The one with the OC
by Sabaine
Summary: What happens when a mysterious OC enters the picture and tries to come between Garrus and his beloved. spoonful of funny situations, drop of bad language, splash of cheeky ideas and a dash of smut, personally a great recipe. Ongoing prompt.
1. Chapter 1

This is a prompt from my lovely Vorbarra who has a wonderful imagination, and is allowing me the pleasure of writing the wonderful story. Please review we would love to know what you all think. This is a work in progress and we haven't yet decided how many chapters but it WILL be updated at least every week.

...*****...

Alex Shepard pushed away her food and sighed heavily, even though she had already done it several times that hour she checked omni-tool for any messages from a certain Turian. Ever since that one night where she and Garrus threw caution to the wind and followed their hearts, (and hormones) her emotions had been in a daze. The collecters were shortly defeated after and she quickly made her way back to the Alliance. After spending six months or so in solitary confinement, more or less, everything went wrong.

Just as she was beginning to go insane from the lack of contact from anyone, the Reapers descended and literally blew her life apart. She then spent the next few weeks picking up what was left of her crew. Thankfully she found Garrus fighting on one of Palaven's moons, the situation didn't allow for any deep meaningful conversations and it turned out that she had just as little time or privacy when they went back onto the Normandy. It seemed that, that particular subject would have to wait.

She knew that she cared about Garrus deeply, scared to admit it was love but that was probably the closest word that she could use to describe her feelings. But she had no idea how he felt toward her and the whole 'worlds being destroyed thing' got in the way a bit.

She sighed again and dramatically banged her head against the table. Here she was sitting in the Allience outpost on the Citadel waiting for the bloody council to summon her and make up their mind about what they want her to do, and all she wanted to do was run back to the Normandy and hear Garrus mutter about his calibrations.

After a minute or two she could hear a couple of people talking in a hushed tone. Her biotics gave her an edge over most normal people, using her long hair (which she absent-mindedly grew longer for Garrus) as a cover she raised her head slighlty so she could hear better.

'Did you hear about the Commander and her Turian crewmate?'

'No, I thought she was with Cerberus, they don't like aliens.'

'They might not, but she _does _if you get my drift.'

'Oh Goddess, I never knew.. That's uh, well that's interesting.'

'Aniah? You ok? You're blushing.'

'Well Shepard is a powerful woman, it's certainly very attractive.'

'Ah my Asari beauty, she likes them spiky not soft.'

Shepard blocked them out after that, bloody rumours mills. Discussing her personal life, some poeple. She rose to her feet and walked stifly past the couple. Glancing down it looked like they were very high up in their respective commands, and they have nothing bettter to do than to chat and speculate about her business. She was just about to tell them both to 'go to hell and shove it,' when her omni-tool bleeped. To her dismay it wasn't who she thought. It was the council, time to go find out why this shit was taking so long.

...*...

'You want me to what?' You're fucking joking right?' Shepard managed to restrian stomping her foot but she couldn't help the pathetic whine that entered her voice, she hated herself for it but what the council where asking for was ridiculous.

Valern's eyes narrowed, 'Your brash language and attitude reminds me why I was agaisnt having you in the Spectres, nevertheless you are a Spectre Commander Shepard you answer to no-one but the Council, and the Council is telling you that you have _no_ choice in the matter this isn't debatable.'

_Fucking Salarians_ Shepard thought treacherously. _There must be some way out of this._

'I can't waste my time babysitting a head-strong Turian who suddenly thought it would be a fun idea to travel with Commander Shepard, I have a galaxy to save and it looks like I'm going to have to smash some heads together in order for everyone to play nice. I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out how to get this damn weapon built anyway! This is totally inconvieniant.' She paused for breath, 'you are hindering me not helping me.'

Valern rolled his eyes and threw up his hands, the Asari counciller Tevos simply gave him a pointed look. She turned to Sparatus, 'this was your idea, what do you wish to do? Shall we continue?'

Shepard's omni-tool bleeped, her heart rate rose as she looked at the sender. Garrus.

**Message from Vakarian 13.23**

**so what's happening? You been a while. Bit concerned.**

Shepard knew the council were watching her and she could feel Valern's anger when she ignore them to reply to him.

**Message to Vakarian 13.25**

**I'm fine apart from being screwed by the council. Bunch of reapers. Want everything. Even a gal's dignity.**

Seconds later a reply came through. She could hear the councillers talking amongst themselves but she didn't care.

**Message from Vakarian 13.25**

**Ha, know the feeling. See you soon?**

**Message to Vakarian 13.26**

**Couple of hours max. See you then x**

When Alex put a little 'x' at the end, it meant that the conversation was over, otherwise they would just keep talking. As much as she wanted to she knew that if she ignored the Council any longer there would be hell to pay.

'Finished?' Valern asked.

'Yes thankyou,' she snarkily replied.

'Important enough to be incredibly rude?' He replied.

Shepard allowed a smirk fly across her features, 'incredibly so,' she was crying with laughter inside and it was hard to keep a straight face.

Sparatus pointed a talon at Shepard, 'like Valern said, you are an instrument of the Council. And we are telling you that you _will _have him aboard the Normandy. You talk of us hindering you but you haven't even asked for the Turian's proffession, we know you like to choose your own team Shepard, but we are helping. More than you think. You weren't picky when you teamed up with Cerberus.'

And with that final point Alex knew that no matter what she did, she would be leaving with another crewmember that evening. Resigned to her fate she turned to Tevos.

'So what does this miracle Turian do?'

'He's from the Committee on Paleotechnology, somewhat an expert on Prothean technology.' Tevos replied.

_Bingo_

'I already have an expert, Liara T'soni. There is no need for me to have another.' Shepard turned and walked away from the Council, she knew she'd get it in the neck later but she didn't care. She was a more 'say things first, think later' kind of gal.

Sparatus shouted as she left, 'this is not debatable Commander Shepard, either you have him onboard your crew or we will revoke your Spectre status!'

_Fuck, dirty bastards._

'Fine have it your way,' she called over her shoulder. _Fucking imbeciles. _


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter, hope you all like, in case I haven't mentioned it but everything apart from Vorbarra's OC and Shepard belongs to Bioware, the lucky sods.

…...****...

Alex exited the chamber with less grace than what people thought a Spectre should have. She muttered to herself as she walked toward the elevator giving anyone who tried to talk to her the finger, she heard the cries of outrage but she didn't care. In short Shepard was_ pissed, _it took a lot, well maybe not a lot, but a fair amount to annoy her to the point of no return.

Oh she knew that she should obey the Council but they didn't even ask her they just assumed, if they has sent the dossier to the Normandy, inquired whether she would like another expert crew member than she probably would have said yes. But to simply demand that she took the Turian. It was rude that is what it was.

She barged past someone who was blocking her way and she gave a half-hearted 'sorry.'

'No need Commander, I didn't think you would be very happy about the situation.'

Shepard spun around. _Oh fuck_.

'I'm sorry and you are?' She casually placed her hand on her pistol, she couldn't afford to be too relaxed.

'Ris'ono, ma'am, General Theros Ris'ono. Retired of course.' He held out his hand, _very human gesture_ Shepard noted. Reluctantly she shook it, instead of the bone grinding grip she was expecting, he had a very gentle and light shake.

'I'm sorry' (_I'm not ) _'I don't want to seem ignorant or rude' (_I do really, really badly) _'but who are you to me?' She raised an eyebrow.

'Oh my apologies, I am your newest crew member, I hope that I can be of service to you in this perilous time.' He gave a slight bow.

_Well he certainly knows how to make an impression, _Shepard realised she had been staring at him for a few moments, she shook herself out of her cloud and returned back to the Citadel.

'Oh well, uh,' this was a rare occurrence Shepard was never lost for words, something about this Turian had thrown her completely out of whack.

'I hope the meeting with the Council was sufficient yes?'

Shepard didn't trust herself to speak just yet. So she nodded.

'Very well, I will board the Normandy and begin service.' He gave another little bow and swiftly left via the lift. Shepard stood stunned for a moment, _what the fuck just happened? _The bubble of rage had burst and another bubble had replaced it, the bubble of confusion.

Alex strode into the lift, a woman on a mission. While waiting to stop at the embassies she made a call.

**Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. **_Come on pick up, pick up, pick up. _

_'_Hello?'

'Hi Liara it's me.' She tapped her foot, this elevator was taking forever.

'Oh hello Shepard, I'm sorry I was reading some the archives, you know how I get,' Liara laughed as she apologised.

'Don't I just, oh, are you anywhere near your broker consoles?'

'As of matter of fact I am. What do you need?'

_Ahh the wonderful Liara, what would I do without you?' _Alex thought for a moment, was it right to scrounge up all his background information? Then she realised she didn't care if it was right or wrong, she had to know who was on her ship otherwise she might as well give up.

'We have a new arrival on the Normandy, his name is Theros, Theros Ris'ono. Apparently was a general, says he was retired, whether any of that is true though is another matter.'

Shepard could hear her clicking in the background, after a second or two she heard Liara sigh down the line.

'It's pretty standard stuff I'm afraid, forty-two years old, taller than average, incredibly high IQ, wont bore you with the insignificant details, he was a General, he was in charge of some evacuations from Palaven and nineteen of the forty passenger carriers got taken down, he manoeuvred them to where he thought it would be safe but it led them straight into an ambush, he gave in his notice a day later and he was given an honourable retirement. Graduated his training with full honours and is said to be one of the best Turian Snipers in the military, put forward to be Primarch but he respectfully declined. It doesn't have much about his personal life.'

'What nothing at all?'

'Not really, there's plenty of psychiatric profiling, but they all say the same thing, good attitude, very stable personality. The perfect Turian soldier. There's a picture as well, he's very good looking for a Turian. Very handsome.'

'Yeah I noticed,' Shepard said absent mindedly.

She heard Liara giggle. Without realising she had said that out loud, she was happy that no one had entered the lift during her conversation. She could feel the blush rise around her neck. She coughed, embarrassed.

'So is there anything else?'

'Well I'll send everything to your cabin and you can browse through it later.' She had a lilt to her voice that Shepard recognised as highly amused.

'Thank you Liara.'

'Any time Shepard.'

**Click.**

As soon as Liara hung up the doors hissed open. _Fucking finally_, she walked toward the human embassies and sought out Udina's office.

She knocked on the door and without waiting for acknowledgement she entered the office. Udina was sat at his desk and barely batted an eyelid when she stormed into the room.

'Commander Shepard, may I ask why you have found it necessary to barge into my office?' In a particularly dry tone.

'What the fuck Udina? What the fuck? Why the hell have I just had the Council telling me who to have on my fucking ship!' She slammed her hand on the desk, his chair rolled back away from her fury.

'You are making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be, calm down.' He stood up and walked toward his office window.

'It's my ship!' Shepard repeated, she knew she was being petty but she couldn't help it she felt insulted.

'So you have said. Face it Shepard you are stuck with him as much as I am stuck with you.'

Shepard turned on her heel and threw herself out his office knowing that if she was to stay any longer she might feel tempted to shove Udina out the window. As it was she managed to break his door with her rising biotic field.

…...******...

She waited for the docking door to open. Her mood hadn't improved since leaving the embassies. She did try to do some retail therapy but there wasn't anything she liked the look of. Although she did find a new mod for her rifle which perked her up a bit, enough for her to be tolerable.

Walking past the cockpit she gave a quiet hello to Joker, who knew better than to inquire what was going on. She would fill him in later when she was in a better mood. She waved her hand up, letting Joker know to un-dock and drift until she knew their destination, it was a shorthand they had made over the years.

She wandered to the lift intending to bury her sorrows in ice cream and sit in the Main Battery watching Garrus work, it unnerved him to no end and she enjoyed winding him up. She called the elevator and waited for it to arrive. The door dinged and she went to get in.

'Shepard!' Tali bounded out of the lift.

'Hello Tali, how are you today? The engines ok?'

'Yes, yes they're fine, never mind that tell me about him!'

'Him who?' Shepard rubbed her head, it had been a long day.

'The Turian, now we have two! Does this mean better rations? Three dextros on board!' She bounced slightly.

'Yes we have two, but they're not a collectable set like you're making out,' Shepard gave a little chuckle. 'And I'll make sure that we get better rations for you all, wouldn't want him to feel unwanted after all.'

'Oh goodie, I can't wait. Drinks later?' She called over her shoulder.

'Yeah absolutely,' _I'm gonna need them, _she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Okie this will be the update for a week, sorry everyone but im being dragged off into the middle of nowhere. No interwebs no phone signal nothing D: It is really going to suck. I am taking le laptop with me so I am going to keep writing. Vorbarra is going to keep messaging me wonderful ideas and this party is really gonna get started. Also this is the first chapter im posting without Vorbarra reading it first, kinda nervous.

…...***...

Shepard got inside the lift and asked to be taken to her cabin. She needed to unwind before facing the horde. She had decided to take a shower and do a bit of reading, she definitely deserved an hour or two off after having to cope with the Council. As much as she wanted to annoy Garrus she really, really really didn't want to run into to Theros.

She stripped as she entered her cabin, dropping armour as she walked, she would clear up later, well she would think about clearing it up but she wouldn't. Then one of the crew would come in and badge her to do it. Last time Samara restricted her communication with Garrus by confiscating her omni-tool and locking her in her room. She tried to hack the door manually and after about twenty minutes being surrounded by wires she gave in and tidied her cabin. After an hour Samara came back and inquired whether she was done. It then took Tali over two hours to sort out the mess she had made with the console. Eventually she was released. It was weeks before everyone's smirks disappeared.

She stepped under the shower head, sighing in bliss as the hot water dripped over her skin. She had pulled her longish hair up and out the way, she couldn't be bothered to wash it. Using her loofah she scrubbed the mornings stress and worry away, for the time being any how. Treacherously her mind travelled back to when she had a shower after Garrus had left her quarters _that_ morning. As strange as it sounds she really didn't want to shower after that night. His scent clung to her skin, the smell of armour polish, heat clips and his general muskiness that seemed to emanate from him. She was embarrassed with how much his smell made her feel safe and slightly aroused her. If her human nose could smell it and get that reaction she would love to be a Turian woman for a moment just to find out her reaction.

She remembered crying in the shower, the only time she had ever felt truly afraid, she had convinced herself that one of them weren't going to make it. She remembered the fear of losing him, this new feeling that she had found and she was risking it all to fight the damn Collecters. But then they survived. And the more difficult question arose in Shepard's mind which was would he want to continue what they had both started?

Alex mentally slapped herself, she was having a shower to feel better, not get all depressed thinking about things that had already happened. She took one of the soaps that Kelly had given her before disappearing. It was one of her favourite smells, vanilla and banana, lathering herself vigorously she was soon covered in bubbles. The little girl inside Shepard squealed with delight as the white foam turned a light pink and when popped glitter emerged. Probably not the most professional thing for a Commander to be covered in but Shepard didn't give a damn about what people thought.

After half an hour of scrubbing and much to Shepard's embarrassment, squealing, she finally admitted it was time to get out. She washed the last of the bubbles away and stepped out of the cubicle. The shower automatically turned off when she left. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror, most of the glitter had gone with the bubbles but some remained and left a slight shimmer to her skin.

Alex was not by nature a vain woman, but she did like they way she looked, minus the scarring. She dressed in a simple black tank top which had the N7 symbol above her right breast, her shorts also were black and also had the symbol on the side. She left her hair as it was piled on top of her head. She flopped onto her bed and pulled her glasses out of her bedside table, she reached under her bed and rooted around until she found her data pad that currently held most of her books. She chose a book and random and began to read.

…...******...

EDI spoke after a while.

'Commander there is someone wishing to enter your cabin, would you like me to have them dismissed?'

'Na it's alright EDI let them in.'

As the door hissed open Shepard instantly regretted her decision. Vega and Theros walked into her cabin, stoic as ever. His eyes glanced around the mess that was Alex's room, his face gave away nothing, and she had grown very well at interpreting Turian emotions and facial expressions. She stood up awkwardly aware of how much skin was on show. Most aliens wouldn't bat an eyelid about what she was wearing but Theros was smart and she saw him give the Turian equivalent of a smirk for a second when he registered her attire.

Vega on the other hand grinned from ear to ear as if someone had lodged a large piece of watermelon sideways into his mouth, Shepard resisted the urge to biotically slap him around the head, she saw him wink. They would have to have to have another spar in the hold, this time she would draw blood.

'Lola,' he drawled.

'Vega, do you need me?' She sent him a death glare meaning, ''you say anything to anyone you will be let out an airlock.''

'Na thanks, just leading Theros here to ya.'

He left as quickly as he arrived. Which left just Shepard and Theros.

'Commander.'

'General, you wished to speak with me?' She stumbled to stand straight. Then she remembered that she was still wearing her glasses, something not even Garrus had seen her in, she whipped them off throwing them behind her.

'I insist you call me Theros, or at least Ris'ono ma'am. Anything but General. I am retired.'

Shepard smiled evilly, 'very well, but it's Commander, or Shepard when off duty.'

He nodded his head.

'What is it that you need?' She fiddled with her hands.

He had his hands clasped behind his back, 'I simply wanted to apologise about the way the Council appointed me to your service.'

'They were adamant that you join my crew, I am not in a place to refuse the wishes of the Council,' said Shepard the politician.

'Didn't give them the right to act like a bunch of Pyjaks.'

Shepard couldn't help but give a little giggle. 'You know all of a sudden you don't seem as bad as you were.'

He ran a hand over his fringe, 'must be my good looks and charm wearing you down.'

'You come across very um, uh..'

'Stuck up? Pole up the arse?' He chuckled, 'yes I can see that I often have to remind myself that I'm not in the military any more and so I can relax, to a certain extent anyway.'

'I know the feeling,' she clicked her fingers, 'have you met Liara yet?'

'No ma'am I haven't.'

She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

'Sorry I meant Shepard.'

She raised both her eyebrows and tapped a foot.

'We are both off duty yes? That means that I can call you Shepard.'

'Fair play, come along Rizz I'll show you to Liara's lair.' She walked past him stepping over pieces of her armour and clothing.

'Rizz?'

'Yep it's a play on your last na-' before she couldn't finish her sentence her foot caught on her leg brace and she fell forward. She squealed as she came closer to the floor, without warning she hung there suspended. She could feel a tight grip around her waist, she was gently turned over, inches from her face Theros looked at her concern etched on his features.

'Th-thankyou.'

'It is... uh no problem Shepard.'

She could feel his chest pressing against hers, his fingers gripped tightly lightly digging into her skin, it reminded her of how Garrus would hold her. But Theros smelt differently. Not unpleasant by any means but different and unsafe almost.

Shepard had no idea how long had passed when she heard the door open.

'Hey Shepard I heard you were back and I-' Garrus stood shocked in the doorway.

Both Theros and Shepard's heads whipped toward him, Theros instantly let go of her. She fell to the floor with an unladylike cuss of 'bollocks.'

Standing up straight Theros began to talk, 'ah Garrus this isn't what this looks like.'

'Uh-huh.'

'No really, fuck Rizz that really hurt.' Shepard pulled herself into a sitting position. 'See he caught me to avoid what just happened.'

'Yeah you are pretty clumsy, I've had to catch you a few times, especially when getting out of shuttles.' Garrus laughed. 'Well when you've got a minute can you see me in the Main Battery?'

Alex nodded her heart fluttering, 'sure Garrus I'll be ten minutes tops.'

'Just like your 'couple of hours' right?' He snickered.

'Leave Vakarian, or the I'll find you in the airlock.' Shepard threatened.

Garrus waved his hand and returned back to the lift. Theros offered her a hand and pulled her upright.

'Sorry reflexes,' he apologised.

She looked at the bruise forming on her thigh, she gave him a look.

'Reflexes that time as well I'm afraid, when caught red handed drop whatever it is you're handling.'

Shepard couldn't help but grin. 'Come on I'll take you to Liara and hopefully nothing else that will haunt me will happen along the way.'

'Unlikely,' she heard Theros whisper behind her.

'I heard that Rizz.'

She also heard his chuckle as they entered the elevator.

_I REALLY need those drinks now._

…...******...

Hope you all liked was quite nervous lemme know

xx


	4. Chapter 4

Due to some difficulty with our rented holiday home we have been upgraded to another home and this one has WIFI in a very nearby cafe! So very happy. So may be the only update this week. Have lots of interesting things to be doing lol.

…...***...

Shepard dropped Theros off at Liara's office once introductions had been made. She ignored the smirk that Liara sent over Theros' shoulder. Shepard walked away as quickly as was socially acceptable, as she turned the corner she let out a sigh and lent against the wall. Things had happened so fast. Garrus walking into Theros catching her from a nasty fall and then dropping her anyway. It was weird Garrus didn't even acknowledge Theros' presence, maybe he didn't care after all. Maybe he had moved on and thought she should do the same?

Maybe she should stop procrastinating and make a move toward the main battery, Shepard would never consider herself a coward but at the moment she would give anything to run away from this situation, it was just so embarrassing, and she was slightly worried about what the ending might be. It was Horizon all over again, she never wanted to feel that again.

Breathing in deeply, she brought up her omni-tool, pressing a specific application that no woman should be with out, a screen popped up and quickly turned into a reflective surface, Alex quickly undone and fluffed her hair, pulling it over a shoulder (it framed her face nicely) and wished that she had some make up on. She contemplated quickly running to the crew's quarters and nabbing some off a random female co-worker. Her vanity won. She quickly sent a message to Garrus so he didn't come looking for her, that would be disastrous.

**Message to Vakarian 18.85**

**Only be ten minutes, just wrapping some things up :)**

She hoped that sounded pretty casual, but she didn't have any time to think about it. She for the lack of a better word 'ran' to the crews quarters praying that no-one questioned why she wanted some gloss and maybe a bit of mascara. She'd have to make do with what was on offer. She charged into the dorm and thankfully there was a young woman sitting at one of the tables.

_Bleep, bleep._

_Oh fuck, that'll be Garrus' reply. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh g-_

Shepard looked down and read.

**Message from Vakarian 18.92**

**I'll be timing you, I have been waiting all day. A few minutes more won't kill me I suppose. **

_Oh fuck he sounds pissed. _Her heart sank and shrivelled up. No that wasn't right, her heart crawled off and whimpered in the corner, being kicked by her lungs and her kidneys threw in a few punches.

_Bleep bleep._

**Message from Vakarian 18.98**

**Just realised how that horrible that looked. Sorry. See you soon. X**

The relief that shed itself from Shepard's shoulders was probably visible and she leant against the door frame. The woman turned around and said something that Shepard didn't quite catch.

'I'm sorry?' She cleared the fuzz from her mind.

'Are you OK Commander?'

Shepard racked her mind, names flew past her memory and after a few seconds the correct one settled in her mind.

'Yes thank you Monica, would you perhaps have any uh, maybe a little make up on you. I uh feel a bit naked without it.'

Monica, bless her heart smiled that universal smile that meant little? You mean boutique. Surely. She nodded and patted the seat next to her, Alex slid into the chair and enthusiastically clapped her hands together.

'So what do we have?'

…...****...

Approximately seven minutes later Shepard left looking a more pretty than usual. Shepard was tempted to put the young woman's name in for promotion. She was fantastic. In about five minutes she had restyled Alex's hair, it was still over one shoulder but it was in a rough braid. A smudge of lip gloss shimmered on her lips, a thin line of eye liner and some eye shadow created that perfect 'come hither, smoky eyed' look that looked amazing. Shepard couldn't help the bounce in her step as she walked toward the Main Battery.

She nervously patted her hair and fiddled with the end of her braid. She balanced on her heels. The door waited in front of her simply waiting for her to open it. Here goes nothing.

Tsssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh. The door slid open.

Garrus didn't even turn around from his console.

_Fucker, and I got all prettied up for you. _She cleared her throat loudly. Only then did he turn around. She had no idea how to stand so she just stood with her hands clasped behind her back, one leg crossed over the other. She bowed her head slightly, suddenly bashful.

Garrus turned around. 'Hey Shepard you took lo-' he stared at her, witty thought suddenly evaporated, he coughed, 'long enough.' He finished with lamely. Smug thoughts raced through Alex's head.

'Hey sorry I've taken so long, I didn't mean to.'

'It's ok I know you have a lot going on.'

They stood in silence for a moment before Shepard decided to plonk onto a nearby crate holding one leg up by her chest. She saw Garrus' eyes watch her legs and she swung them upwards. She remembered how much Garrus was fascinated by her skin and the way she moved, something he revealed when they spent their night together.

'I see we have a new crew member.' He replied dryly.

'You sound so excited Garrus, I'm surprised you noticed' she snapped, _fuck need to grab hold of that temper_.

'Well I didn't expect introductions to happen in your cabin Shepard.'

She held up her hands surrendering. 'This isn't going to help Garrus, what's this really about?'

He leant against his console, 'I don't know what you mean.'

'Oh right well maybe I should just go then seeing as clearly this conversation is going nowhere.' Shepard wanted to cry, _this is all going so wrong_.

She hopped off the crate and wrapped her hands around herself, it only took a few steps and she had left the Battery.

She felt someone touch the back of her waist brushing the tips of her fingers.

'Alex, wait.' Garrus had followed her.

She stopped simply because she was too shocked to answer him, _he called me by my name, he hasn't done that since, well he hasn't done it since._

'Please come back into the Battery, I don't want to have this conversation in the middle of the deck. Please, I uh, well please.'

She nodded and allowed him to steer her back into the other room. Once in he put her back on her crate and using his omni-tool he locked the doors. He sighed and rubbed his forehead before turning around, he pulled another crate from the side and sat on it himself, he had pulled it close enough so his legs brushed hers when he crossed them.

'You look very pretty Shepard.'

She blushed.

'Thank you.'

'You didn't look like that earlier, you do it just for me?'

'I-uh maybe,' she admitted.

He didn't say anything just inclined his head and stared at her. She nervously batted her feet against the crate. She was normally very confident and she would say what she would think but for the moment she was lost for words.

'So we ok?' Apart from the ones she just blurted out.

'Ok? Yeah why-'

'Well you walked in on Theros and I thought that maybe, well y'know. I just thought.' She began to babble.

'Shepard I think you're thinking too much. Look I just... when I walked in on Theros, uh catching you as you fell, sure I thought of a few things, like if is appropriate to punch him in the face, or could I get away with swearing my arse off, in the end I settled for the immature way of ignoring anything that I had seen and acting like nothing had happened.' He coughed, as if embarrassed of his actions.

'I should probably explain something to you Shepard, remember my compliment about your waist?' Shepard nodded, 'well for Turian's the waist is a uh sensitive area, it takes a lot of trust to allow someone to hold you there and it was a bit of a shock seeing how casually he um, held you. I won't lie Shepard, it made me a little angry, I'm sorry if that's stepping over any boundaries.'

Shepard looked up sharply. _What? Stepping over wha?_

'I'm sorry Commander' he repeated.

_No, no, no, no, no, oh god no don't call me Commander, please. _

'No, no Garrus, no boundaries overstepped, no. No Commander either, not you. And for what it's worth I'm sorry about what happened. I thought that Turians had some different aspects about someone's waist, I'm sorry I didn't ask you to clarify it earlier. Well actually he dropped me anyway didn't he, so he might as well not bothered.'

She rubbed her thigh, for empathise.

'Bloody hurt as well.'

His mandibles flared, which Shepard recognised as a smile. Her heart crawled out of it's corner and raised a mocking salute to the ones who delivered punishment earlier, and made notes on who needed their favour repaying.

'I'm sorry,' she smiled.

'Don't be, I was being stupid.'

'So are we ok?' Shepard stood, she did have other duties to do and as much as she would love to sit there talking she should show her face at least once in a while.

Garrus mimicked her and shuffled his feet.

'Yeah Shepard, we're fine.'

On an urge Shepard wrapped her arms around his waist.

'Trust me Garrus?'

He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her perfume, Shepard pretended not to notice and inside her heart jumped up and down. She had no idea how long they stood like that but all she heard was Garrus say:

'Always Alex, always.'

…...******...

Little surprise update, hope you all liked especially Vorbarra. Lemme know.


	5. Chapter 5

Soo here we are chapter five wooo, heads up for those of the weak hearted, there is a lot of swearing more than usual from our lovely foul mouthed Shepard. Hope you all enjoy. Sabaine xx

…...*******...

Shepard skipped into her cabin, she knew no-one could see her so she allowed herself the little frivolities. As she passed her bathroom she promptly fell over her discarded armour earning herself another bruise.

'I'm ok, I'm ok,' she looked around, 'I am so glad no-one saw that.'

'Are you in need of assistance Commander?' EDI's voice rang from her cabins speakers.

She pulled herself upright kicking her armour out of the way, clearing a path, 'I'm OK EDI thank you.' She navigated her way to the closet, 'oh on second thought could you please no mention that to anyone, not even Joker.'

'Very well Commander.'

'Ta.'

A whole hour had passed and Shepard was in the CIC searching systems before the feeling of dread passed over her. A few seconds later, EDI walked up to her.

'Hello EDI, what's up?' Shepard waved a hand in her direction.

'I'm sorry? There are many things attached on the ceiling would you like me to name them?' She looked upward.

'Uh no sorry, I meant what is the reason you are here, talking to me?' She smiled at the robotic platform, 'it's a colloquialism between friends, or even people you don't know. Friendly expression.'

'Thank you for clarifying, I am here because Admiral Hackett came through with a message, there is some Prothean technology on a nearby planet, but there may be some resistance, as we are in the nearby vicinity he has asked if we could spare the time to scout out the area and see if there is anything of value.'

'I knew it.' Alex rubbed her head, that feeling was never wrong.

'I'm sorry, my system may have malfunctioned have I already relayed this message? I do not detect any issues, would you like me to run a systems check?'

'No, no it's not that, I'm sorry EDI I forget myself sometimes.'

EDI thankfully let this one go, or she stored it for later questioning. She said her goodbye and left Shepard to contemplate her team.

She couldn't decide so she sent a message to all her team members who were available and asked them to meet her in the hold to discuss the current mission.

…...*******...

Vega and Tali were chatting by his work station, Liara, Theros and Javik look engrossed in whatever Liara had on her omni-tool. EDI and Mordin were cleaning and preparing their guns when Shepard walked into the hanger.

'Hello all,' she wandered to her locker and picked up her rifle. 'We have a fairly basic drop in store, normal resistance I think, who wants to come with?'

'Commander who do you wish to come with you?' Liara asked. She had a coy look on her face, _she's planning something_ Alex thought to herself.

'I don't mind, it's a routine mission. Which means something is bound to go wrong. Why?'

'It's just that I was hoping to talk to Tali, Javik, EDI and Mordin about the weapon, I know you asked if we were busy but if you don't mind us dropping out it would be helpful.' The others nodded as she made her case and she knew that they were all staying in the Normandy, come rain nor shine.

_I fucking knew it. Bitch. That leaves Vega, Garrus and … oh fuck Theros. _

'Oh ok fine, so then that leaves you three. So uh, who would like to come along?' She waved her gun awkwardly, hoping that Vega would step up but the look on his face said otherwise.

'Sorry Lola,' he rubbed his shoulder dramatically, 'y'mind if I sit this one out, pulled a muscle something bad when I did my routine this morning, should go see the doctor really, y'mind?'

Shepard committed murder in her head but she sweetly said out loud, 'I don't mind Vega, make sure you get checked 'kay. So guys that leaves you. Any one have a problem?'

Garrus looked at Theros and shrugged his shoulders, 'I've been with you for years Shepard, I know how to work around you.' His mandibles flared as his eyes set on her, 'I trust you.'

Alex fought the blush that was threatening her cheeks.

Theros stood to attention and saluted, 'ready for duty Commander.'

Shepard's face gave away nothing but inside she cringed, she hated all that type of stuff.

Theros caught her eye, 'ready to catch you, I promise not to drop you this time.'

Vega laughed, Liara and Tali giggled in the corner. Garrus' mandibles flared in what Shepard knew was annoyance.

She coughed into her hand, 'ok guys well suit up and be ready in the shuttle in ten, dismissed.'

_Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, this is so not fair. I'm going to have two good looking, powerful Turians protecting me in the heat of battle. All the adrenaline and chemical rush, oh holy hell this is haunt me for days._

She held her head in her hands, _this is not fair, why me? _

She looked at the both of them who were civilly ignoring each other, Garrus (the dark skinned and broody one, tall and sexily scarred,) nodded his head at her his mandibles stirring, and Theros (also tall and handsome, with his distinguished icy blue facial markings, the line that travelled down the longest spike of his fringe, his pale skin that blushed ever so slightly when she smiled) winked. 

_Oh fuck._

…...*****...

Theros and Garrus were already in the shuttle when she arrived. They sat in the seats furthest away from each other, Shepard the politician sat in the middle in equal distance from each Turian. Nothing was said during the journey, Shepard practically vaulted out of the aircraft when they landed in the drop zone.

Nothing but a bit of shrubbery met her feet, the planet looked completely barren. There wasn't any buildings to scout out. She stomped her foot, Hackett thought there was information here? Unless she started to dig she highly doubted it.

Opening her intercom she stepped ahead of the others 'ok guys it doesn't look like there's anything here, but hey orders are orders, so we'll uh scout out for a few miles and if there's nothing then hey we tried. Whaddya think?'

Garrus unslung his Widow, and gripped Shepard's shoulder, 'I've got your back.'

Theros simply said, 'as you wish.'

Acknowledging both of them they began to walk. Garrus on her right, Theros on her left, both had a sniper rifle and an assault rifle, she had her various assortment of artillery, she was confident they would be able to face whatever may be out to get them.

After about six miles Shepard was ready to call it quits. They had walked in silence crushing small shrubs and shells underfoot. The humid poisonous atmosphere swamped the air around them, it felt like it was rusting her armour. All she wanted to do was go and have the drinks that she had promised herself. In ship time it was about 10.00pm but the sun was high in the sky on this planet.

'Alright guys let's moozy on back, there's nothing here. Theros? Professional opinion?' She holstered her pistol and sat on the what she assumed was sand.

Theros crouched and pinched some of the earth in his fingers, rubbing it together he looked around 'I doubt that there is anything of Prothean value here Commander, I hate to say this was a wasted trip.'

'Any one could have told you that Commander, remind me again why the Council demanded he was on board?' Garrus had opened a private channel in the intercom.

'Don't ask, they wouldn't take no for an answer.' She replied. Garrus said nothing more simply grunted and closed the channel.

'Thanks Theros, well you heard it, no point being here any longer, Garrus? Call a shuttle would ya.' She sat up brushing the dust off her legs and bum.

'You uh- you missed a spot Commander.' Theros motioned with the barrel of his gun.

She looked down he was pointing at the back of her legs. She rubbed a bit harder, 'Gone?'

'No, it's uh still there.' Shepard thanked whatever had created this planet that meant they were wearing helmets and couldn't see each other's expressions.

She made an exaggerated show of rubbing her backside and legs trying to remove the stubborn dirt.

'Gone now?'

'No. You just missed it,' he holstered his weapon and waved his hand, 'do you mind it'll be easier if I just..' his hand rubbed the back of her thighs, Shepard privately revelled in the feel of his talons raking across her legs.

He coughed, 'there all gone,' he drew his gun and took a defensive position, back to professional Turian.

Shepard thanked him and saw Garrus visibly bristling she could hear his heavy breathing down the line.

'Shuttle'll be here in ten minutes Shepard.' Garrus walked on ahead.

They had walked for a few minutes when the Normandy tried to contact them. Shepard opened a channel but all that came through was static.

'Hello EDI? Joker? What's the matter?' She looked at the other who both shook their heads.

'Nothing Commander.'

'Same here Shepard.'

A ship screamed overhead. The comms cleared a bit, 'Commander, …... hear... Reaper...drop..ip... shu...can't...'

'Ok anyone get that?' She pulled out a pistol and looked for cover, none of which she could see.

'I think that a drop ship is on it's way.' Theros stated.

'We need to find cover Shepard, otherwise we'll never make it.' Garrus pulled her arm toward a random placement of boulders. They ran as bullets flew around their heads.

Shepard switched off her comm and screamed 'FUCK OFF YOU WANKERS, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST GIVE IT UP ALREADY. HOW MANY OF YOU BASTARDS TO I HAVE TO KILL BEFORE YOU TAKE THE FUCKING HINT!' She breathed in heavily and turned the comms back on.

'Are you hurt Commander, you were screaming!?' Theros shouted, over the din the husks and abominations. The drop ship had left and waves of enemies swamped forward. The atmosphere didn't seem to affect them and Garrus swore in a stream of Turian that her translator didn't pick up.

'I'm fine, just try to fucking well survive.'

Garrus pushed her back and dropping a few husks that came into range.

Theros was using his Sniper rifle and efficiently dropping every target that came into his crossfire. Every move was textbook and he moved with a grace that even Garrus couldn't match. Maybe this was the real reason the Council wanted him with her.

A few Marauders rose beneath from the Husks, their high shields standing up against even sniper fire. Garrus switched to his assault rifle, the kills became far and few between. A Brute dropped from the sky causing a huge crater and a shock wave that caused Shepard to lose her balance and fall over. She fell out of the safety of the rocks and was immediately sent upon by the husks.

Shepard screamed and let off a clip of rounds into the ones nearest her. She panicked and resorted to her biotics pushing them away. They were coming thick and fast. Garrus was fighting his way toward her and Theros had pinned down a few Marauders stripping their shields. She flipped onto her feet, using her omni-tool and back-handed the ones closest to her.

She saw the Brute square her up and set (what she assumed were it's shoulders) back and dipped it's head. She knew from experience that it was going to charge. She mimicked it's pose and charged her biotics, she ran toward it emptying her clip as she ran, a flicker meant that it's shields had gone and she let loose her biotic charge and slammed into it with her shoulder. She heard something crack and she hoped that it didn't come from her.

The Brute fell over with a groan. Shepard copied it and attempted to crawl away. It turned out the crack did come from her and she had dislocated her shoulder and one of her knees. She felt her suit compress around her joints holding them in place. Theros had killed the Marauders and ran in her direction, he reached her killing husks on the way. The waves had knocked a lot out of them but they were winning slowly and surely, they just had survive until the Normandy arrived.

Theros pulled her over his shoulder, she swore in pain loudly. Garrus replied but she didn't hear, she was swimming in and out of consciousness. Theros ran swiftly toward the shelter Garrus covering him. She felt the impact before she heard it. Something clipped the side of Theros' helmet sending him spinning, as he was thrown, he twisted his body as he fell so he didn't land on Shepard, she rolled away, screaming, the painkillers could only do so much.

She looked over she could see that his visor had been cracked and a shard had flown off, she crawled over letting off a few rounds into anything that came close. Ignoring the pain in her body she pushed him and yelled into the comm, 'FUCKING WAKE UP SOLDIER! ON YOUR FUCKING FEET! MOVE IT! NOW!'

Theros jerked into movement and he got to his feet, he screamed in primal rage (it sent shivers down her spine), the nearest enemies got the worst blow as he charged forward, he swung his fists into the nearest one, throwing another into a nearby foe. Shepard watched amazed as he kicked and punched his way past, his grace and deadly skill hypnotized her.

Garrus pulled her upright and wrapped an arm over his neck, the shuttle had arrived. Through the dust she saw Theros jog toward them, all enemies had been killed it seemed. She could see Theros shaking as he jogged his steps becoming unsteady.

Without warning Garrus pushed her into the waiting shuttle, she hit the deck and inched backwards, Garrus pulled himself into the seat beside her.

She then saw a husk rise from the fog and debris behind Theros. She sighted down Garrus' discarded sniper rifle and shot it in the head. She sighed a breath of relief as it went down.

'Thanks Commander,' he breathed into his comm.

She then watched in horror as he toppled over, roughly he landed on a few corpses.

'Garrus!' She shouted, pointing her finger, 'Theros!' She explained.

Garrus swore and jumped out of the shuttle, he grabbed Theros and heaved him into a fireman's lift. She laughed with exhaustion when Theros was pushed into the shuttle next to her. Garrus thumped on the bulkhead and the craft took off.

He helped her into her seat and strapped her in, he removed his helmet, positioning Theros in the recovery pose he strapped himself into the seat next to her.

'Well that fucked up,' Alex groaned through the pain.

'Are you ok Alex? Do you need anything.'

She shook her head 'no nothing you can do Garrus, is Theros ok?' She removed her own helmet shaking her head releasing her hair. She could feel blood trickle down the back of her neck.

'He'll live I think, but it looks like the atmosphere has poisoned him,we better get him back to Dr. Chakwas and Mordin as soon as' he laughed as he lent back, 'so much for routine.'

'Yeah so much.'

She closed her eyes and wished she was back in the Normandy.

_He got hurt because of me. Fuck. This is definitely going to haunt me_.

…...************...

Long one Im afraid. You like it? Drop a review lemme know. Hope Vorbarra likes it. Love all xx


	6. Chapter 6

So a bit of drama in the last one this one is quite relaxed I think, don't know yet not really. I have vague ideas about a story's chapter but nothings solid until I write lol, I don't even write a draft hahahaha. So here we go.

Chapter 6

The vague shape of Mordin, swam in and out of focus, the bright light shut out everything else creating a blur. Shepard coughed feeling how horribly dry her throat was, she could hear him talking to her as well but she wasn't working properly. She waved her hand limply, someone grabbed it.

'Wha...?' She coughed again, she attempted to roll over but many hands pushed her back down. Her ears seemed to have kicked in, and everything was slowly becoming clearer.

'Lay still Shepard,' that was Garrus.

'Where... -cough- am I?'

'The Normandy Commander, inside the med-bay to be exact.' That sounded like Doctor Chakwas.

Her vision cleared and she could see everyone crowded around her, she hated all the drama, and she couldn't wait to get out of here.

'Lemme up,' she mumbled.

'It would be best if you stayed laying down Commander.' Dr. Chakwas pressed her slightly on the forehead.

'I am, Commander, lemme up, now.'

'You'd better do as she says Doctor she's got that look on her face.'

'Very well, Doctor's orders mean nothing nowadays. Especially to her.'

The pressure on her body was released and she was able to pull herself upward, she felt Garrus' hand on the base of her back helping her. Her shoulder gave a pang of pain, and she moaned a curse.

'Ohhhhh, fuck me that hurrttssss.'

No-one replied but she saw the smug look on Dr. Chakwas' face, it said ''told you so.''

She brushed her hair out of her eyes with her only free hand. The other arm was bound and strapped to her chest, her knee had a huge bandage wrapped over it, she was going to stiff for days.

'Where's Theros?'

Garrus' eyes narrowed but he pointed to the far side of the room, Theros lay in what Shepard considered as civvies and had tubes and a breathing mask over his face. Her heart dropped and a guilty feeling rolled around in her stomach.

'Uh guys could I uh, have a moment?' She swung her legs off the bed and grabbed the crutch by the table left especially for this reason. Garrus didn't say anything but his hand lingered on hers before he left, Shepard was still confused about what was between them, or if there was even a 'them' to consider.

Not that she had meant to do it but the clothes she was wearing when she hugged him still held his scent and she hadn't put them in for cleaning, she had folded them up and put them on the end of her bed for her to wear that night, no-one knew this she would probably die with embarrassment if they did.

Mordin began to say something, he had been uncharacteristically quiet but Dr. Chakwas shushed him and gently led him out the door. Before the door shut she saw the doctor give a weak smile. Shepard knew it broke the good doctor's heart every time she risked her life and ended up in the medical bay. Ever since she had been spaced, Shepard was determined not to put anyone through the pain of mourning her ever again.

The door hissed shut, she heaved her body's weight onto her good foot and hobbled over to Theros' bed. He was breathing steadily, at least. Shepard sank into a nearby chair, she was weak and thankful that no-one could see her so vulnerable.

Unprofessionally she took Theros' hand and held it in hers, whatever doubts she had about him had dissolved the moment he swung her over his shoulder. Her heart panged, her mind had wandered to when she sat next to Kaiden's still, sleeping body, it seemed everyone she cared about was dropping around her, even when she saw Thane she couldn't help the tears that silently dropped from her face when she left, her family were getting hurt.

Looking at Theros she definitely considered him part of her family. So quickly he had touched her heart.

'Hey buddy,' she said trying to keep her tone even.

'I know you probably can't hear me, but don't worry you're gonna get back to a hundred percent, I've been assured.' Her fingers traced circles on the back of his hand.

'Just uh, think of this as your initiation, you got off quite lightly, I mean Garrus took a rocket to the face,' she was trying to make a joke and bring a bit of humour into the situation. It wasn't working.

'You're a fucking fool,' she said quietly.

'You got hurt because of me, and for that I can never forgive myself,' she looked at his peaceful expression, 'or you for that matter.'

'Next time you leave me ok, secure the situation, then come get me, unless a husk is chewing on my arse, that's an order.' She sighed and lent back in her chair, this was hard.

Something glinted out of the corner of her eye, there was a pair of dog tags hanging from around his neck onto the bed. She didn't even notice when she picked them up at first, but her questioning fingers found that there was a small ring of silver slipped onto the chain, Shepard was confused, there was no explanation she could think of for a ring to be on his dog tags, she turned it over in her hand, vainly she tried to read the inscription on his tags, her omni tool translated most things but it didn't seem to be working, oh well. She shouldn't be prying anyway.

She dropped his chain and her hand rested on his mandible, she knew that this was wrong but she couldn't help it.

'Get better soon Theros, that's an order,' she whispered softly, she shakily stood and went to turn away but she felt something grab her wrist.

She looked down.

'Rizz?' She saw the wince at the nick-name. 'You're awake?'

'I …. follow orders... Comm..ander,' his voice was hoarse and weak, but the fire in his eyes and strength in his grip settled her mind. He was going to be fine.

'It's Shepard Theros, just Shepard,' she loosened his grip and smiled warmly.

He coughed, 'I'm sorry... Shepard.'

'Wh-what for?' Totally shocked, she hadn't expected him to say that.

'I dropped .. you...' his mandibles flared as he made the joke.

She laughed in desperation, 'you're a bastard, y'know that right.'

'I... know.'

Dr. Chakwas rushed in followed by Mordin and Garrus, instantly Shepard was mushed out of the way as they tended to him.

'What's going on Garrus?'

'They thought he might not wake up, they've gotta keep him awake for a few hours, those toxins are pretty powerful, he's a tough son of a bitch Alex, he'll be fine. We used to serve on the same ship,' he waved away her unsaid questions, 'stories for another time, when he can join in. For now, I know you're on pretty high painkillers but a drink is definitely in order.'

She nodded. Garrus wrapped her arm over his shoulders, she did have a crutch she could use, but she was going to take any help Garrus offered her, especially physical, that way she could be surrounded by his smell, she knew it sounded crazy but she was going to take the little comforting things when she could grab them, there may not be any in a few months to come. She limped out of the medical bay, as they turned she looked toward Theros before the doors closed.

She smiled when she caught his eye, he nodded weakly and winked back, her heart fluttered with joy. _Uh, oh, that's not a good sign._

…...************...

A/N Not gonna lie may have a little crush on Theros. LOL. Hope you all liked it. Lemme know xx


	7. Chapter 7

Nothing to say just hope you all like it :D Please review if you do xx

Chapter 7

Garrus and Shepard hobbled toward the Normandy's bar, the room was spinning and she was glad that she was about to have a strong, stiff drink. Dr. Chakwas had given her a disapproving look when she announced she was going to drink like a fish, simply warning her about the side effects she may suffer with her painkillers.

Garrus was holding tightly around her waist, his other hand gripped hers just below his shoulder. They hadn't said anything to each other since they left the Medical bay, Shepard unconsciously lent most of her weight onto him, but he didn't complain so she continued.

Suddenly a thought struck her through the haze of pain pills.

'Oh, Garrus, I promised Tali that I would have a drink with her,' she smiled sheepishly, 'you don't mind do you?'

'What? Why would I mind?' Stopping in their tracks, he angled his head toward the ceiling. 'EDI? Is Tali still awake?'

Seconds later she replied, 'yes Gunnery Officer Garrus, would you like me to relay a message?'

'Yeah uh, wait,' he turned to Shepard, 'do you want to be alone with her? Is it a uh, girly chat? Because I've heard of those and it's dangerous territory for males.' He chuckled deep in his chest with the look that Shepard shot him.

'EDI can you ask Tali to join us for drinks please,' he chuckled.

'May I remind you that Commander Shepard is on very high medication.'

'Taken on board and thrown over by mutiny,' Shepard replied for him, 'to the bar Garrus that's an order.'

…*...

Tali bounded through the door, 'oh Shepard I heard what happened are you alright?'

'Nothing a few drinks won't fix, thanks for asking though,' she smiled. At first she had found it hard to communicate with Tali for her exo-suit hid her facial expressions, but she had learnt to notice the slightest body movement, tone of voice and what they meant, it had helped in other situations over the years, once she had mastered the skill their friendship blossomed. Most evenings were spent together having drinks and laughing over random things.

She could tell Tali was very worried, her body was tense and she was unconsciously clenching her hands slightly. She stood up and hugged her in a tight one armed grapple, Tali responded, Shepard could feel the relief that flooded the Quarian's body, all her muscles relaxed and her voice was less stressed when she next spoke.

'Keelah, I was worried.'

'Yeah I know, I would have been too,' Tali laughed into her shoulder and let her go shakily.

'Be more careful Shepard,' she turned to Garrus, 'I thought you would have protected her!'

Garrus merely inclined his head, not rising to the jibe. Instead he turned and began making drinks.

'So how did this -she motioned to Shepard's arm and leg- happen?'

Shepard sank into one of the sofas, Tali sat in the one opposite her. 'I may have, um, biotically charged a, uh, a Brute, it sounds really stupid now I say it out loud.'

'Keelah!' She looked over at Garrus, 'I'm sorry I didn't realise she had been throwing herself suicidally at enemies.'

Garrus returned with a tray of drinks, 'yeah I thought you'd change your mind when you'd heard the whole story,' he handed them out, Tali's favourite cocktail, and his own dextro whiskey on the rocks. He handed Shepard a very pretty drink all different colours, privately he knew that she had no problem ingesting dextro food or drink, so he had mixed a few up creating her own cocktail. It was in a small glass nonetheless, he knew he'd never hear the end of it if she got drunk while on meds.

'What is it?' She swirled the glass and the colours swirled around.

'Just a light mixture nothing too heavy don't worry.'

Shepard gingerly sipped it, moments later her face beamed, 'it's lovely Garrus thank you.'

He said nothing simply sat next to her and drank his own. Tali asked Shepard how Theros was as she had heard that he had been hurt, she answered with non-committal sentences, Tali knew better than to probe further. The girls settled into chatting about random things and Garrus simply sat enjoying the atmosphere.

After half an hour or so he got up and went to refill their drinks, Tali went to help him leaving Shepard with her thoughts.

**Bleep, bloop.**

_A message? Who's sending me messages at this time?_ She opened her omni-tool, which was luckily on her uninjured arm. Her messages appeared automatically, she whispered for it to open the newest entry, she didn't want Tali to hear or she would insist on reading it.

**Message from Vakarian 22.43: **

**I call it the 'Reckless Beauty.' Rather fitting I think. X**

Shepard's heart soared, she wished she could reply but that needed two hands. It was probably best that she couldn't, she could feel a nice warm feeling in her stomach where the alcohol and pills were getting to know each other.

They returned after scouring the bar for more interesting bottles, Shepard had made a point to get more dextro friendly drinks when they last restocked, she had giggled at Tali's squeals of delight when the inquisitive Quarian found the dextro versions of vodka and mixers.

There was an extra drink on the tray and Shepard raised an eyebrow at it's appearance, 'expecting someone else?'

'Oh I passed Vega on the way here,he had a few things to finish but he just messaged me, he's on his way.'

'Oh cool.'

At the mention of his name Vega strolled through the door. He sat next to Tali and thanked her for his drink.

'So Lola, when you're feeling better, you could show me the moves yeah? Would love to spar with you again, this time not so gentle.'

Tali laughed and Shepard blew him a mock kiss, Garrus tensed next to her but she ignored him. Vega's playful flirting always cheered her up.

A few hours and a few more drinks later Garrus announced it was time for Shepard to go to bed. The atmosphere had relaxed again, but Vega's relentless flirting had put Garrus on edge a bit, especially when Shepard retorted. He took it in good humour but he was a male through and through.

Shepard moaned when he said enough was enough, as a biotic it was harder for her to get drunk but in her state she seemed to have slipped into it like it was second gear. He swore she had only had about three but she was pretty sloshed.

Tali bid them both goodnight with a hug and Vega gave her a light kiss on the cheek and a friendly punch on Garrus arm, telling him to lighten up, which instantly sent Shepard into a spiral of cackles. Tali wobbled a bit when she stood and Vega whispered that he would make sure that she doesn't 'stack it' on the way to her bed.

They left leaving Shepard sprawled on the sofa and Garrus scratching his fringe wondering how the hell he was going to do this.

'Come on sleepy get up.'

'Nope, stayin' here, bring me pillow.' She curled up the best she could with a damaged knee and ruined shoulder.

Garrus clicked his mandibles in amazement, she was so confusing.

Without waiting for her to move he bent down and picked her up, he couldn't sling her into a fireman's lift with her knee so he settled with holding her in his arms and wrapping her spare arm around his neck, she moaned but didn't make any attempt to get free. She stroked beneath his fringe and it took all his will not to as Shepard would say 'purr' in response. He almost ran to the elevator, the quicker he got her into the bed the better. Shepard could get uh, handsie, when under the influence.

'You takin' me to bed Garrus?' She giggled, 'again?'

Luckily no-one was around and he stepped into the lift.

'Alex, you need to sleep, you've been through a lot today.'

'Yup, and people got hurt 'cos of me..' her voice had taken a sad tinge to it.

'Don't go there, don't do this to yourself,' he warned, she looked so upset and he couldn't help but lightly brush her forehead with his. She pressed back and smiled. He knew that this was a bad idea seeing as she probably wouldn't remember any of it in the morning but he couldn't resist.

The doors opened and he entered her cabin, carefully he navigated the maze that was Shepard's room, stepping over what he thinks is a hairbrush? He wasn't sure, he lightly tipped her onto her bed. Now came the real dilemma. She was wearing the wrong sort of clothing for bed.

'Uh Alex, you uh have to change.'

She waved her hand limply in the direction her drawers, near the end of her bed. Reluctantly he crossed over to them stepping over various objects and opened one at random. He pulled out a light blue item of clothing which he recognised as a nightdress. He showed it to Shepard for confirmation.

She had sat up, giggling she shook her head. He held up another random item, again she shook her head, this happened several times before Garrus gave in.

'Ok then what do you want to wear? Because I'm gonna be here all night otherwise.'

'I wasn' pointin' at the drawers, I was pointin' at those,' she lent over and picked up a pair of shorts and a tank top, something Garrus did recognise, she had worn those when they had their little moment in the battery.

'You were wearing those this morning Shepard.'

'That's the pint? Pont? Point! That's the point Garrus. I wanna wear them.'

She nuzzled the top, Garrus didn't quite to make of the situation so he settled with 'oh ok.'

Was it possible that Shepard could smell his scent on the clothing? Garrus had never thought about it before, he had naively thought that only Turian women would have been able to, he had never heard that humans could smell it as well, was it because she was a Biotic? They say that a human biotic's senses were more developed. All Turian males gave off a scent of sorts it was natural, and true, females became more protective about items that had the residue on them when they were interested in the male but Garrus had never thought for a moment that Shepard would be one of those women. Was this a sign or was he just reading into this too deeply?

Knuckling his forehead he watched as Shepard attempted to dress herself, she had managed to get the shorts on but she was having trouble with the top. She gave a pleading look and he walked over to help. Untying her strapped arm her managed to get her arm through the right hole, once accomplished he tied her arm back, much to her disappointment.

'Don't wanna be strapped up.'

'Tough, it'll help.'

She pouted, but he was impervious to her charms.

'See you're dressed now, time to get into bed.'

's'it's cold Garrus,' she was shivering slightly.

Garrus cursed the spirits that sent him such a woman. She knew exactly how to play on his feelings, in a good way. She was beautiful (once his perception of beauty had been widened, and she truly was.) Deadly with a firearm, and due to her biotics, enticingly graceful when fighting and moving. She was the perfect woman.

'Get into bed and I'll turn the heating up for you.'

She crawled underneath the covers and watched as he used his omni-tool to adjust the temperature. Afterwards he knew he had to leave, so he said goodnight and quickly left, not giving her a chance to reply. He felt like a coward, but Shepard wasn't in the right frame of mind, not that this would help.

He was in the elevator when his omni-tool bleeped.

**Message from Shepard 01.78:**

**Stay pls xx**

He sighed and replied a 'safe' message.

**Message to Shepard 01.81:**

**You need sleep Alex, you've been through a lot, I'll check on you in the morning, sleep well xx**

_Coward, coward, coward. _

The doors opened and he began walking to the Battery, he needed to take his mind off Shepard.

...*...

Alex sat in her bed staring at the door, he had left so quickly. She was waiting for his reply and nervously biting her lip at the same time. His reply came through swiftly. She had directed his messages to her computer on her beside table so she could at least type with one hand.

She read it and her heart dropped. She felt like crying, it hurt to be rejected, but it hurt more when it was Garrus. She knew she shouldn't but she replied.

**Message to Vakarian 01.86:**

**Please Garrus, I, **

**I want you, **

**I, I need you . X**

She clicked send but instantly regretted it and quickly typed another message.

**Message to Vakarian 01.88:**

**I'm sorry, don't worry, goodnight. **

Burying her head under the covers she could feel the alcohol leaving her system, making her face reality and her feelings. She had made a complete fool out of herself, forgetting he was around and smelling her clothing. He probably thought she was crazy, no wonder he left so quickly. She pulled her top over her mouth and inhaled deeply, she was being cruel to herself she knew but she didn't care.

...*...

Garrus looked away from the console and stared at his omni-tool, he had received two messages almost one after the other. He had been to scared to open them but they accused him flashing on his screen. He opened the newest one and he felt guilty but at least she understood.

But his brain kicked him to read the other one, he had half convinced himself that it was just the same as the other one, that she had clicked send twice. But he had to know for sure, he opened the message.

He had already left the battery before he had finished reading it.

...*...

Alex had half fallen asleep when she heard her doors open. She thought her brain was playing tricks on her, but then the quilt lifted and she felt someone's weight and heat slid in beside her. For a moment she panicked but then she smelt it. Armour polish, heat clips and a deep muskiness that clung to her clothing had spread into the air around her.

Garrus.

Choked with happiness and sleep she muttered, 'you, you came back.'

He said nothing but laid on his back and pulled her so she was resting on his chest, his other hand ran through her hair soothingly.

'Thank you Garrus,' she mumbled kissing his cheek.

Before she could lay her head back down he gripped her jaw and angled her head so he could Turian kiss her forehead, he pressed as hard as he dared, he didn't want to hurt her. She stroked his mandible and pressed back.

'No thank you Alex.'

He let her go and she laid back onto his chest, her breathing became more regular and when he was sure she was asleep, he nuzzled her hair and repeated himself.

'Thank you, Alex.'


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Shepard's insistent headache dragged her from the deep sleep she had succumbed to, she groggily opened her eyes and rolled over, who she expected to be in bed with her, in fact wasn't. Panic threw her body into full awake mode.

'Ohmygod,ohmygod,ohmygod,ohmygod,ohmygod,ohmygod,' she repeated the mantra as she scrambled out of bed, seriously hindered by the lack of movement in her damaged limbs. The mantra soon changed to:

'Ohfuck,ohfuck,ohfuck,ohfuck,ohfuck,ohfuck,ohfuck. Fuck me it fucking hurts.' She hobbled to her bathroom, she stared into the mirror, her black and bruised cheek stared back at her, her hair was no better. She mercilessly dragged her hairbrush (which she had found when she was traipsing toward the bathroom) through her tangled locks, either the Brute had managed to cut some of her hair or she had slept in some scissors.

Garrus.

He was stroking her hair when she fell asleep, that much she remembered. His talons. They were sharp, he kept them short but at the right angle they could do this to her hair. It had given one side of her hair a short chic cut. It didn't look too bad, she quite liked it. It just needed smartening up. That's a bonus about biotics, it was cheaper than a hairdresser. Long ago she had mastered the skill of managing her hair.

She desperately tried to think about her hair rather than the fact that Garrus had slept in her bed last night and _wasn't _here when she woke up. Strands of hair fell to the floor which she directed biotically into the bin nearby. Examining her new hair, she tried to remember what happened last night.

She had sent him a message. 'Oh FUCK!' She buried her head in her hands, she vowed to never drink again, it just seemed to get her in trouble. She brushed her teeth and sorted herself out and then as soon as she finished she made her way to her computer to check her messages. She opened the screen and read last nights transmissions.

Her head banged against the table. 'Oh god why?!' She moaned into the metal. She glanced at the screen again hoping that her eyes where deceiving her but no such luck, something caught the corner of eye, she had a message in her drafts. She never saved drafts, there was no point she wrote it and sent it. She quickly opened the message.

**Open drafts? _Click._**

**One saved message. Open? _Click._**

**Message saved at 08.23:**

**Hi Shepard. **

**I knew that you would be confused about last night. **

**I also thought that you would probably just delete your messages so I saved this in your drafts just in case.**

Damn, he knew her too well. That exact thought had ran through her head and she had toyed with it before she swallowed her fear. She continued reading.

**About last night, I enjoyed myself, that sounds bad but it's the easiest way to explain it.**

**Promise me you won't torture yourself about the uh, repercussions. **

**Just think about last night as it was, not about what it means or anything.**

**I care you Alex I like to think that much is obvious.**

Alex's heart jumped up and down and made little 'squee' noises. She knew he cared for her, but it was still nice to read it. She still wasn't clear where this was going though, but she was going to do as he asked and not dwell on last night, at least he seemed to be taking it in good faith as it were.

**I hope you're feeling better today. **

**You know where to find me if you have time to kill. **

**Garrus. **

**x**

**p.s Sorry about your hair. I forget that Human hair is different from a Turian fringe. Sorry. Again.**

**Sorry**

Shepard couldn't help but laugh out loud when she read the last bit of his message, he was clearly worried about her reaction. Cheekily she wondered if she could play on the fact, she had a beanie somewhere. She grinned and closed her messages. She used the extranet to find out some info about Turian 'grooming,' that was the only way she could describe it, apparently it was called 'preening' something only males would do with females that they felt close to, bit technically phrased and cold but the gesture itself was sweet. It was with a happy heart when she got dressed.

….**...

She dropped by the CIC after eventually dressing herself, it had taken a while but she had managed it in the end. Everyone made clear that she wasn't needed, politely of course, everyone commented on her new hair and how nice it looked. It was a conspiracy, she knew, Doctor Chakwas had obviously beaten her to the deck and lain down the medical law.

After a quick chat with Joker who bluntly told her that she had been taken off duty for a few days Shepard resigned herself down in the canteen. She had spent an unhealthy twenty minutes or so reminiscing over the memorial board. Her fingers had traced all the name plates, lingering on Ashley's and Thane's, she promised that she wouldn't make any excuses for the deaths that haunted her, it was an insult to their memories. The only comfort that she provided herself was that there could have been a lot more if she hadn't been quick enough to rescue the crew after the Collector abduction.

She kept glancing over to the Medical bay, she had heard that Theros was recovering and was even sitting up and chatting, it was her guilty conscious that kept her in her chair. She had so many conflicted feeling about this Turian.

She gave in and wandered into the Medical Bay. Theros was indeed sitting up and chatting with EDI, Doctor Chakwas was was elsewhere it seemed.

'Ah Shepard, how are … you feeling?' He paused midway and Alex heard the rasping breath that he inhaled. His voice seemed normal but had a deeper flanging than usual.

She gave a nervous chuckle and sat on the bed opposite his, 'I should be asking you that.'

He scratched his fringe, 'I've been better, …. oh wait, EDI? Could we continue this conversation... later?'

'Of course, I will let Doctor Chakwas know about your progress when she returns to duty.'

'Thanks EDI.'

Shepard tucked her uninjured leg underneath her. 'She's finally taken a break huh.'

'After she told the whole ship .. not to disturb you. EDI was just making sure that my memory is …...still intact. Luckily I'm completely fine.' He didn't look fine, his skin was pale and his eyes looked glassy.

'For what it's worth Rizz I'm sorry,' Alex blurted out. Theros winced at the nickname.

'Don't even go there, it's fine Shepard ….honestly, it's what... happens when you're on the firing line, you get hurt. Truth be told, I wonder whether it was right of me …..to think I could come back into duty, maybe you were right to refuse my service,... I ….haven't been much help.'

He looked so ashamed that Shepard couldn't help it when she lent over and rested her hand on his thigh. _I'm just comforting him, _she attempted to convince herself, _just comforting._

'You're not going anywhere soldier. I need a top class sniper and someone to watch my back,' she let this sink in before saying, 'just like you.'

She patted his leg and hopped off the bed as best she could, 'I don't want you to think I'm avoiding you but Liara wanted a chat and you need your rest.'

'You're one to talk,' his mind hadn't even registered what he said, but he instantly regretted it.

Shepard shocked him completely by sticking out her tongue and replying, 'no rest for the wicked.'

She limped out the door, just before she got out of earshot he commented on her appearance.

'I like your hair Shepard, …..it's very pretty.'

She stopped but didn't turn around, 'Thank you Theros,' and with that the doors shut behind her.

Theros scratched his head, he had no idea what this woman was, she should have reprimanded him with the snarky comment that he made, she should have disciplined him with the way that he acted on the battlefield, but she didn't.

He had heard about the ruthless action that the legendary Spectre Shepard had carved her way to justice and peace. She was nothing like he expected. At first she was with her attitude, but then she showed her soft side, the things she said when he immobilized, she actually cared. She was friends with her crew and somehow she commanded their respect as well. Just by being nice, and risking her life as if they were the single most precious person in the galaxy. It was baffling.

On any other ship the crew would have walked all over the commanding officer if they had an attitude like hers. He even got away with flirting! And what surprised him more was the fact that he was indeed flirting with her. Was it just his imagination or was she flirting back? The way her hand lingered when she touched him. What confused him the most if that he could smell Garrus' scent on her. It was faint but it was always there.

He wasn't blind he could see how they acted around each other and he had heard the rumours which only confirmed what he saw. But neither of them seemed inclined to do anything to solidify what they might be feeling. Maybe it was just that they were close friends. It was intriguing.

The Turian way would be to go straight to Garrus and fight it out. But Shepard was human, Theros had been around them long enough to know that it would be a very bad idea, the sensible thing would be just to ask. That's what he would do, ask. He fiddled with his dog tags, he would ask when the time was right.

When the time was right.

...***...

Okie people review time. Lemme know please, I always make sure that Vorbarra is happy with the chapter, but I would like to know if you lot are as well. A lot of thought (mostly Vorarra's ideas) go into these chapters and it's nice to read that you are enjoying it as well. xx


	9. Chapter 9

Ignore this it's just to annoy Vorbarra.. XD VORBARRA! love you lots. She is amazing, her wonderful brain is full of good ideas and without her I would be lost, please enjoy this story and chapter and send your praise to her.

...*...

Chapter 9

'Liara?' Shepard poked her head around her door. Her office was empty, which was unusual many times had Shepard wandered in and Liara was asleep at her consoles, or she hadn't eaten. Both were common, Shepard had made a note to make sure either herself or another member of crew wander in every five hours or so to check up on her.

She worried about the young Asari, when she opened the archives or had something on her mind she would almost become obsessive. Shepard peered under the consoles and into her bedroom; nothing. She held her hand on her hips, she could ask EDI where she was but she was curious and that was too easy.

'Liara.. where are you..?' She let the question trail while she clicked on her computers most recent activity. Which showed up clean. There was definitely something off. Her computer archives were always full, Prothean research or potential resources.

There was a banging noise from the ceiling. Shepard instantly raised her biotics wincing at the pain that flashed through her head, her amp had been rattled around lately. The rattling continued despite Shepard's reaction. Cautiously she edged around the console keeping her eyes on the ceiling, she had a slight worry it was going to be like the Collectors all over again.

'Who's there,' she demanded, 'or what are you?' She amended.

She heard something give a muffled reply and a service hatch crashed onto the floor. A little orb fell out and she heard Liara swear. Her head popped out from the gap and she grinned weakly in Shepard's direction.

'Ah Shepard, hello.'

Alex relaxed letting her biotics die down. She gave an embarrassed smile which Liara returned. Liara's head disappeared and her legs replaced it, she jumped nimbly from the hatch and brushed herself off.

'Uh Liara, not that was wrong or anything but why were you inside your ceiling? If there's a problem with a wire or something you can just get one of the guys in engineering to have a look for you.'

She shook her head and picked up the object that had fallen out first, it was trying to hover in the air but she snatched it before it moved. Shepard had been watching it in horrid fascination.

'This silly little thing. It's my VI, but the stupid little bugger downloaded a virus.' She banged against the table, not that, that would help, 'it caused it's shell to shut down and it whizzed into the duct under my other consoles, I had to catch up with it the stupid little thing. It had just received information that could really help us. If it flew somewhere it got stuck I would never have been able to retrieve it.'

'So you crawled in after it? How did it download a virus?' Shepard sat on one of Liara's desks.

'Yes I had to, didn't want to lose sight of it. Also it took the command of 'do anything to download that data,' literally.' She banged it again, 'idiot.'

She pressed a few buttons and the VI flashed into life, it's light flashed uncertainly but grew stronger, Liara flattened her hand and it gently rose.

'I just hope it didn't lose everything.'

'Shadow Broker?' The VI asked.

'Yes, yes hello, tell me did you get the message successfully?' She tapped her foot staring at the floating orb.

Shepard flicked her hair over her ear while she watched the conversation between Asari and VI commence. The pain in her knee had dulled and she could hold most of her weight on it and walk almost normally, but it would take another couple of weeks for her to be combat ready, but the likelihood of her avoiding action for a couple of weeks would be slim. She would take her arm brace off tonight and continue using it as normal. She healed quickly.

Liara clicked on her omni-tool and downloaded whatever it was she was searching for. Shepard stayed quiet while she read the short message. With a sigh Liara closed the omni-tool window and lent against the table. Dismissing the VI she turned to Shepard.

'I'm sorry Shepard I've been incredibly rude, how are you feeling?' Worry and concern shadowed her blue eyes.

Shepard waved away her apology, 'nah don't worry hun, I know you've been busy. I feel fine, sore but I'll heal. I came to check on you, how are _you_ feeling?'

'I am fine, everyone keeps checking on me, and Tali keeps bringing me food. I suppose I have you to thank for that,' she smiled warmly, 'but I did want to talk to you for a reason.'

'Ooh sounds interesting, do tell.'

'It's Feron.'

'Is he ok?' Alex was instantly filled with worry, she liked Feron, he was always ready for a chat whenever she popped in for a chat, and she could never begrudge someone who would look after Liara.

'I think so, he's on a recon mission, something I didn't want to send him on but he insisted. Not like someone I know.' She smirked at Alex, who stuck out her tongue in reply. 'I wanted to send another agent but he said that I needed the best, and I did really, so he insisted that he go. And I had no choice but to let him.'

'What is it?'

'It's to do with Cerberus, we think they have captured some Salarian STG scientists and are trying to get them to figure something about the weapon, a potential asset for us, and a massive blow if Cerberus get them to do what they want. Feron has to try and find out if the rumour is true and if it is find out about as much as the operation as possible. We've limited contact to once every week, but it's getting too dangerous. This last message says that there is something going on but they're getting suspicious he's going to stop contacting me until he has something solid. But I'm worried.'

Shepard hugged her tightly and she felt Liara breath heavily into her shoulder.

'Is there anything I can do?' Alex whispered into her ear.

'Actually yes I was hoping you could.'

They parted and Liara clicked on her computer bringing up a folder on her screens.

'I think it's time to lay the pressure on, but they will kill him if they suspect anything. Our best bet is to capture an officer and try and squeeze him for information. I want Feron to have backup. I want you Shepard.'

'Me? Not that I don't think I could but I'm not very subtle.'

'I need you to go undercover, maybe for about a week maybe two. Disguised, but you'll be feeding him information and relaying it back to me.'

'Yeah sure why not? When?' Shepard was excited it wasn't often that she could go in all sneaky like, she knew it was serious but she couldn't help thinking how fun it would be. Different almost.

'Soon, soon, but there's one other thing I would like someone to go with you. It makes it easier to explain why you're there for one, as you would be staying in a hotel and not leaving a lot.'

'Nah that's cool, wait, who would I take with me?'

'It's up to you but I would explain to everyone, call a meeting and let them all throw in their ideas, see who seems most comfortable with the idea, it's a lot of pressure.'

'Fair enough I'll call everyone together tomorrow.'

She hugged Liara from behind. 'See you tomorrow hun, remember to eat and sleep.'

'Of course Shepard, Oh one last thing, how's Theros?'

Shepard's stomach sank a little, 'he's fine Liara, or he will be. I'll let him know you asked after him.'

Liara gave a grateful smile and waved as she left.

...*...

Just a little chapter today peeps sorry. Please review and let me and Vorbarra think of our work xx


	10. Chapter 10

A/N well here we are chapter 10, not gonna lie very happy about how this prompt has worked out. Going to try my hardest to write a decent chapter. Thank you to everyone who has added alerts or reviewed. Enough from me here y'are.

Chapter 10 (omg)

The rest of Shepard's day was filled with countless little things that were unfortunately very important, she had a requisition orders to fill, mainly about getting more dextro food on board. She stopped to have a cuppa with her crew; very important that one. She saw Garrus for about twenty minutes and they had a shy chat, it was awkward but in a good way, simply reminiscing about how funny Tali was when she was drunk. But before she talked to him she had slipped on her beanie, hiding her hair. Garrus didn't comment and Shepard didn't bring it up but she saw him nervously looking at the hat. She knew it was a bit mean but she didn't care, it was funny.

She saw Dr. Chakwas before she retired and had her sling removed, Theros had already returned to his quarters, Dr, Chakwas had put him on a prescription of antibiotics which should in theory bring him back to normal in a matter of days.

Before she crashed into her bed she sent a message to everyone to meet her in the hold to talk about Liara's undercover mission before breakfast which was served at nine. She knew her crew well enough that if they might delay their food the decision would be made instantly.

She received a message before she fell asleep she opened it sleepily.

**Message from Vakarian 23.89:**

**Goodnight Alex. See you in the morning x**

She didn't reply but she fell asleep with a smile threatening to split her face into two.

...*...

She rammed her beanie onto her head and pulled it so the N7 logo faced the side, she couldn't suppress the little giggle that escaped when she thought of Garrus' reaction. She was flying high and she had indulged herself and used Kelly's soap in the shower that morning, as well as sleeping in her 'special' pyjamas.

Malting glitter she stepped into the elevator to take her to the hold. When the doors opened she was greeted by a full blown argument between Garrus and Theros. Vega was holding Garrus still by his arms. Liara and Javik were standing in front of Theros who currently didn't need to be restrained. EDI and Mordin stood with Tali awkwardly in the corner. Tali ran up to Shepard when she left the lift.

'Oh Shepard, this isn't as bad as it looks,' she held Shepard's good arm as she tried to reassure her.

'What the fuck is happening down here?!' Shepard had to shout over the din. Her translator was lagging and she was only picking up every other word that the two Turians were yelling.

'There was a harmless comment and then they both took it the wrong way and it just kinda blew up,' she nervously flexed her hands.

'About what?'

Shepard couldn't see Tali's face but she knew in the pause before she answered she looked apprehensive, she cleared her throat before replying.

'You, it was about you.'

'So they're arguing over me?' Shepard shoved her dancing hormones into a box and threw them into the airlock, she could let them out later for now she had to be professional.

'From what I can gather yes.'

Garrus lunged at Theros and was quickly tugged back by Vega, who shouted 'where's a Krogan when you need one!?' Mordin ran over to help Vega. Shepard shook her head, this was turmoil. And she had to stop the both of them before it turned serious.

She strode forward creating a biotic field which pushed all of them to separate sides of the room gently but forcefully. She stood in the middle of the room looked at both of them who were looking angry yet embarrassed.

She took a deep breath before shouting 'WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING ON _MY _SHIP!?'

Neither of them answered, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, 'well?' She asked.

Silence. Neither of them would talk. Garrus looked like he was going to blow up at any moment, Liara was breathing heavily and Theros had his arms crossed and he wouldn't look in her direction. It was clear to Shepard that this wasn't going to be sorted here.

'Right that's it. If I hear anything like that again on _my_ ship, and it isn't me who's doing the fucking shouting there will be consequences, do I make myself clear?'

Again there was no reply and Alex lost her temper.

'I asked you both a fucking question! Do I make myself clear?!' Her voice contained daggers and both of them mumbled a reply.

'Yes Shepard,' Garrus said quietly.

'Yes M'am' said Theros.

Her anger abated slightly, and she thought today was going to be such a good day, 'right. Now I don't want to hear another fucking word, from either of you, unless I ask. And I will see you both separately in your quarters to discuss this fucking mess after breakfast. Understood?'

They both agreed.

'Right,' she sighed rubbing her head, 'right, now that's sorted, we are here because Liara needs help with a tactical recon mission, it will help us greatly in the long run but it will mean limited contact with the Normandy and we will be for the lack of a better word 'fucked' if something goes wrong.'

Liara piped up, 'it means going undercover, deep in Cerberus territory, you will spend the minimum of a week in a hotel with the Commander relaying information. There are Cerberus spies everywhere so we need to be smart about this.'

Everyone looked serious and deep in thought.

'What would skills would the mission require?' Tali asked.

'Just subtle information gathering and relaying, and there may be a gun fight. Also I only want one of you to accompany her.'

At that bombshell Garrus couldn't contain himself and blurted out.

'What? Why only one of us?'

Alex shot him a look and he muttered an apology to which Alex inclined her head to accept.

'It doesn't make sense for three of you to go. There has to be a realistic legitimate reason for Shepard to be going to this hotel with one of you. Now before we continue I have made a list of those of us who can't go. Don't argue please.'

All of them stirred and fidgeted while Liara brought up her omni-tool and looked for the file that contained her notes.

'First myself, why this would be easily explained the Illusive man already knows I'm the Shadow Broker which takes me out, then there's Javik, sorry but the reason there is self explanatory.'

Javik nodded, 'sensible.'

Liara smiled and continued reading, 'EDI I'm sorry but your functions are limited and I don't want to risk them being able to plant a virus to be uploaded to the Normandy, Tali sorry as well but I can't think of a reason that a Quarian and a Human would be spending a week together in hotel.'

'That's ok, I wouldn't be much help I stick out to much, Quarian's are rarely seen outside the Flotilla. Very obvious.'

'I'm glad you understand. Vega sorry but you can't go, you would be recognised as Alliance, and although we could disguise you like Shepard, this mission requires subtly and you're not very subtle.' She smiled to take any harshness out her words but Vega didn't seem that bothered.

'While I miss out on a chance to spend a week with Lola alone in a hotel, it's cool. I can find other things to do.'

'I would like you to provide backup if anything goes wrong though.'

Shepard looked around both Turians were listening intently and Garrus kept glancing in her direction. Liara cleared her throat and scrolled down on her omni-tool.

'So that leaves Mordin, Theros and uh Garrus.'

Mordin cut in before she could carry on, 'I cannot go, I have been asked to develop cure for genophage, much work, culture analysis, blood specimens, calculations, predictions, too much work, would like to help, but cannot. Otherwise no time for cure.'

Liara nodded, 'I thought as much, but that means there's only one choice.'

'What do you mean there's two of them?' Shepard asked.

'No, I'm afraid not.'

'I don't understand Liara?' Alex was completely confused.

'Garrus can't go,' she stated.

'What?! Why the hell not? Turians and Humans are seen together all the time, and the uh, realistic reason, is uh, er, known, and uh, generally, uh, accepted nowadays, it -cough- makes sense!' This time Shepard didn't chastise his outburst, Garrus had a point, beside the same thing had floated through Shepard's head as well.

'Because Garrus, you're too easily recognised, you've been with Shepard since the beginning, like Tali and myself, with your scar as well, you're too easily known. It's a risk I can't take.' Liara calmly explained.

'This is bullshit!' Garrus began to raise his voice. 'If you think I'm gonna let him-'

'Enough Garrus, she's right.' Alex said interrupting him.

'Wha- you, you can't be serious Shepard..' he began, but Alex shook her head.

'No Garrus she's right, Cerberus know you there were cameras all over the Normandy when we were with them, they know you, they're going to have you on file. It's too risky.' Her heart dropped when she realised this and the look on Garrus' face was painful. She summoned up some professionalism and put things straight.

'Theros will be joining me on this mission if he no reason not to, that's final Garrus,' she swallowed when she saw the fury that flickered over his features. He stood clenching his hands into fists.

'Fine.'

'Garrus, it makes sense you know it does,' she repeated trying to drill it into his head.

Garrus said nothing but strode past her into the lift. Shepard closed her eyes as he walked past , she didn't move but she felt him brush her shoulder, she felt like inhaling a gallon of ice-cream but she had to be the Commander. She looked at Theros.

'Is everything ok Theros?'

'Yes Commander. Let me know the details.'

'Very well it's sorted, alright people go get your breakfast and I'll see you around, thanks by the way.'

They all said their goodbyes, Tali hugging her and Vega giving her a playful punch on the shoulder.

Liara lingered behind though. 'Are you alright Alex?'

Caught of guard by the use of her first name she took a second to gather her thoughts.

'I'll be fine Liara, thanks.'

'I did not mean for that to happen.'

'I know, but what can you do? I forget that Garrus can be a bit hot-headed sometimes.'

'Me too.'

Liara gave her a deep hug, reassuring as it was Shepard still felt worried.

'Come on Asari lets go get some breakfast I'm starving and after I'll go pummel some sense into Garrus.'

'Very well Human after you.'

A/N wwooooo surprise chapter mwahahahahaha had some time so whipped this up. For those who are wondering the argument will become clear in the next chapter. Lots of love to Vorbarra as always, don't listen to her this wonderful fanfic is possible because of her, not me. Love all xx


	11. Chapter 11

(sorry if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes. I do check but some slip through. Sorry again)

Chapter 11

Shepard sat at the table with her food, unfortunately the only seat available which was facing the main battery, which meant that she was going to have to sit and suffer looking in that direction. Theros had entered the medical bay to eat his breakfast while he updated Dr. Chakwas on the mission he had undertaken and what medication he would have to take with him. Garrus clearly hadn't bothered about getting any food, and had just stormed off into the battery.

Liara watched as Shepard toyed with her food, she kept glancing in Garrus' direction. Liara hoped that she hadn't made the situation between them worse and couldn't help feel a bit guilty about what was happening. She quickly finished her food and went to get something to break the ice.

Alex poked her sausage around the plate, as a biotic she ate about twice times as much as anyone else, more so when she was in combat, but she didn't seem to have any appetite. She hated going all 'High Command' on her friends, especially Garrus, she didn't need too he always knew what to do. But lately, he had been different.

Sighing she pushed her plate away, she knew she would get told off about not eating but she couldn't face it. She took off her hat and ruffled her hair into life, feeling a little of her anxiety float away as she fluffed. She didn't move when the chair opposite her moved as the crew member finished their own meal, she certainly didn't bat an eyelid when someone else sat down.

She did take notice when a covered plate was shoved under her nose.

'I'm not hungry I'll eat later,' she muttered.

'It's not for you, it's for Garrus,' Liara replied.

Shepard looked at Liara, her face was filled with kindness, not one bit of planning in sight. But she still needed to clarify.

'Garrus? What?'

'It's clear that you wish to speak to him, and he hasn't eaten this morning, now before you refuse, trust me. Garrus is just like any other male, the way to their heart is through their stomach. Goes for any species,' she smiled and nudged the plate further toward her, 'go chat and clear the air.'

Shepard stared then grabbed the plate, stood up and practically ran around the table toward the battery. Liara smiled as she walked past, her heart lifting and the guilt trickling away.

The plate suddenly appeared beside her on the table again. But before she could say anything she felt Shepard's slender arms wrap around her shoulders, Alex dropped a light kiss on the Asari's cheek and whispered 'thank you' in her ear, before snatching up the plate and trotting off.

As she got closer to the door she heard Garrus talking to himself inside. She couldn't make out any words but he sounded angry. Swallowing her fear and summoning up her courage she knocked on the door thinking it would be best.

The talking stopped, she waited a minute, and then opened the door. Garrus stood at his console and merely inclined his head when she entered, shutting the door behind her.

'Commander,' he said quietly.

'I uh, brought you some food. I didn't think you stopped for breakfast,' her heart was hammering in her ribcage, she felt slightly sick and her head was a little woozy. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to push away her own meal.

'There was no need but thank you Commander,' he said coldly.

She placed the plate onto a table and watched him, he was working on his calibrations or something but he didn't seem to want to acknowledge her presence. He just stood working on his console. Well she wasn't going to talk to his back for the rest of the conversation.

She clicked on her omni-tool and turned off the power to his computer, not before she backed up the data he was using. The console went dark and the light flickered off, she heard Garrus sigh.

'Was that necessary Commander?' He didn't turn, but lent on the now dead computer.

'Probably not but I wanted no distractions,' she lent on the railing she could at least see he profile this way.

'Very well.'

He seemed so cold toward her.

'So are you going to tell me what that mess down in the cargo hold was about?' She needed to know.

'No.'

'Garrus.' She warned.

'No Commander,' he corrected.

'Stop it. Tell me what it was about.' She folded her arms.

'With all due respect Commander, no,' it sounded like he was clenching his teeth as he spoke.

'What the fuck Garrus? You keep calling me your Commander yet you won't treat me like one? What the fuck is going on? You know this is a military ship and when your commanding officer asks you to clarify a situation where another crew member and yourself could have been hurt, you bloody well button up and say no?' She breathed in deeply, 'well I'm not giving you a choice here Garrus. Tell me what was going on.'

Garrus looked at her defiant as ever.

'That's an order,' she choked.

They stared at each other both crackling with anger and pride but Shepard won. She could stare down a Thresher Maw into surrendering.

'It was about you.'

'And?'

'That's all.' He looked away from her.

'Bullshit. You don't try and beat the shit out of someone because of nothing. This is fucking ridiculous.' She was losing her patience.

Garrus' eyes narrowed. 'Right,' he said.

'Ignore that last bit please Garrus it was a stupid thing to say, I spoke before I thought about what I saying, I'm sorry. I'm just getting frustrated that's all,' she apologized, her say things first, think later attitude was getting her into trouble more often than she'd like.

'Maybe this week away will do you good then,' he commented dryly.

'I'm sorry?'

'Well clearly you like Turians but it doesn't matter which eh?' He smiled as if he was trying to make a joke, but Shepard was horrified.

'What the fuck are you on about Vakarian?'

'Well you were pretty quick to back Liara up, I'm just saying.' Then and only then did he turn to face her, Alex saw the hurt in his eyes, he truly believed that she didn't care, clearly he couldn't read her like she could him. For him to even think that she just wanted... it didn't even bear thinking about.

'It makes sense Garrus! You know it does! It won't work with you!' She shouted, her eyes began to burn. She was fighting back tears.

'Won't it?! Well thanks for letting me know!' He shouted back.

Shepard realised that they were talking about different things. Very different things. And it had just taken a very nasty turn. She went to touch his arm but he shrugged her off. The tears that she had been fighting had risen to the surface and threatened to break.

'Garrus..' she said quietly. 'How can you say things like that? Listen it's not like...'

She tried to explain that she had been talking about the mission but he cut her off.

'I've heard enough Commander,' his voice broke as he said her rank.

'No listen! Garrus! I didn't mean that! I wasn't talking about-'

EDI's speakers crackled into life above them. Shepard desperately tried to ignore her, and try to explain what had just happened but Garrus wasn't listening.

'Commander, Liara has some disturbing news, please meet her in the shuttle. She says you have to leave as soon as possible.' EDI's speakers cut off not giving Alex a chance to refuse.

She went to leave but Garrus had a parting shot.

'I thought you weren't like other humans Alex, maybe I was wrong,' he sounded distraught, but Shepard was too shocked to notice, her heart burst with unhappiness, is that what he truly thought of her? Maybe he didn't care, maybe she was the one reading things wrong.

She didn't look at him but talked to him over her shoulder, she could feel his eyes boring into her back, she said that she would think first before speaking, but not this time. This time it came from her heart.

'I can't believe you just said that Vakarian.' Tears dropped off her chin hitting the floor below, 'maybe I was wrong Garrus... thinking a Turian could care about me,' she heard his shocked intake of breath, but she continued, '…...thinking you cared about me.'

Without another word she ran.

And ran.

…...

Well uh that took a turn for the worst. Didn't really have any control about what I wrote there. I certainly didn't expect for it to be a bad as that. Oh well. Sorry if you didn't like it. I've gone out on a bit of a limb here, hope Vorbarra likes it. :/ so nervous.

Let me know if you liked or hated it both types of reviews are welcome! ta much xx


	12. Chapter 12

So the last chapter was very saddening D= Kudos to Vorbarra who helped me write it. It was hard to keep Garrus in character, hope I managed. Without her I would be lost. Here's another dose for all you addicts. And so early too, you lucky lucky things.

Chapter 12

She found herself in the launch bay before she realised it. Dr. Chakwas, Liara and Theros were already waiting in the shuttle. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and at the same time she discreetly wiped away her probably very noticeable tears. If they suspected anything they didn't say a word. She jumped in and sat in an empty seat that was close but separate from everyone else.

'So Liara what's up?'

'Quickly Shepard, this mission has been brought forward a lot earlier than expected, I had a message from Feron, he says that it's becoming too dangerous for him to be alone, we'll need to capture an officer within the week.'

'That bad?'

'I'm afraid so, we're going to land at a station it'll be a few hours away from where you're staying but you need to be disguised.'

She nodded and ignored everyone while they took off and typed a quick message on her omni-tool. Liara noticed.

'Shepard? After you've finished I'll have to take your omni-tool, I'm sorry but I have to give you a different one, I've already given Theros his.' Liara looked apologetic.

'Sure, uh' she cleared her throat, 'I just wanna send this message.'

**Message to Vakarian 10.67**

**I feel I should clarify Officer.**

**Personally I was talking about the mission.**

**Thanks for letting me know.**

**Commander Shepard. **

It was cold but she didn't care. He had made it clear how he felt about her. She sent the message and tried to forget about the pounding in her head. She turned off her omni-tool not waiting for his reply and handed it over to Liara.

'Is everything ok Shepard?' A lot more questions rode on the one she asked but Shepard settled with a non-committal answer.

'Yeah thanks, it's fine.' She scratched her ribs idly, 'I'm fine.'

Liara nodded sensing that she didn't want to talk about it. She busied herself on her omni-tool occasionally talking to Dr. Chakwas how was absorbed in her own notes. Theros looked at her with concerned eyes.

'How are you Commander?'

She rolled her eyes, 'why does everyone keep asking me that?'

He shrugged, 'because we care.'

'Smart arse.'

That was rewarded with a smile, which made her feel better. So she strived onward for things that made her feel better.

'So that means you care Rizz?' She asked nonchalantly, she folded one leg over the other. Liara glanced in her direction and she sent a grin back.

'Honestly I'm surprised you ask, but yes I do care.' He tapped a pattern on his leg.

'I thought I could read people quite well,' unconsciously she lowered her voice, 'turns out I was wrong.'

Theros move so he could sit next to her. They sat in silence for a few moments before she piped up.

'Do you think I'm bad at reading people well? And yeah I realise that sounds odd.' She fidgeted next to him. She could smell him what with him being so close, but it wasn't unpleasant. Comforting in fact.

'You are wary at first, which is not a bad thing. But when you get to know them you are good at knowing what they need or think just by looking at them.' He shrugged his shoulders again, 'does that help?'

'Yeah I think it does,' a sudden tiredness swept over her. 'Liara? How long will it take to get to this port?'

'About two and a half hours Shepard.'

'Oh good..' a few minutes later and her eyes closed, a few moments after that her head dropped onto Theros' shoulder. He took it in good grace and after a moment of shock relaxed. The shuttle rocked and he lifted his arm to steady himself and Shepard dropped onto his chest.

'Uh Liara?' he asked quietly.

'Oh I wouldn't move her Theros, she gets awfully cranky, I would just leave her be,' Dr. Chakwas replied with a smirk on her face, 'I'm always telling her to get more sleep.'

Liara simply smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

…..***...

Garrus stared at the message in disbelief. He had been such a fool. His shock turned into rage and in a fit of anger he threw the breakfast that she had brought him, he kicked a crate so hard it smashed, then resigned to his idiotic past he fell to the floor his head held in his hands.

There was nothing he could do. She had left on a shuttle with _him_, the message that he had tried to send had failed which meant that she had turned her omni-tool off, so now he had to wait a week before being able to speak with her again. A week where anything could happen.

…..****...

Ok this is like the shortest chapter known to mankind but I wanted to get another update in before I went to bed as a thanks for all your lovely reviews. I promise there will be an extra long chapter to make up for it. Thank you again and as always please review. xx


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry about the late updates I haven't been very well. Lot of things on my mind as well. Writing this chapter solo today (one of the things that's been preying on me) Anyway I hope you all enjoy and I'll try to make this a good chapter.

Chapter 13

The shuttle shook as it landed, there were strong winds and it buffeted the small ship to and fro while it slowly cut it's power. Inside the travellers were being swung in their seats, only one of them was oblivious to the weather outside. Commander Alex Shepard slept ungracefully her head lolling on one of her Turian crew members who very graciously accommodated her sudden twitches and unconscious quirks. Nuzzling being one of them.

'Liara...' Theros' voice sounded a little strained when Shepard buried her head into his collarbone for the numerous time.

Liara suppressed a giggle, 'yes she gets very feely doesn't she? Happened when we were travelling to the Shadow Broker's base, we were hiding in a small container, she fell asleep and kept hugging and uh, snuffling into my neck. Goddess that was a long journey'

Dr. Chakwas, 'if I didn't know you any better Liara I would say you were blushing.'

Indeed the Asari's cheeks had darkened and she cleared her throat clearly embarrassed. The shuttle rocked and nearly sent them all from their seats. The pilot's voice crackled through the speakers, 'sorry everyone. The wind is really picking up but we have landed safely. Miss Liara when would you like us to return?'

Liara checked her omni-tool, 'in about five hours.'

'Confirmed, by the time you return we should have refuelled and be ready to go. Have a safe journey.'

Liara stood shakily and steadied Dr. Chakwas as she also got up. Theros looked imploringly at Liara who offered no help or advice at all. Dr. Chakwas took pity.

'Just carry her Theros, she never gets enough sleep. Besides it's not far.'

Theros nodded and slid his arms under her body, she was lighter than he thought, too light. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up. He waited for Liara and Dr. Chakwas to exit the ship before following, as he walked down the docking bay the wind flicked Shepard's hair into his face and he took a private moment revelling in how lovely her hair smelt. Although she was light he could feel the wiry strength in her arms, that's what threw him, she looked so innocent and gentle most of the time and then when crossed she turned into a wrathful goddess possessing strength that didn't seem possible in such a delicate frame. She reminded him of an earth creature called a tiger. Tigress was the female term he was sure. He remembered studying such fascinating creatures, completely gentle and timid until crossed and then deadly.

He allowed a small smirk cross his face, that's what he would call her to get his own back. ''Ti'' it was perfect. And she would have no idea. It would drive her insane. Liara herded him into a building where a few boxes were sitting along the wall along with a couple of chairs.

He gently placed Alex into one of these then turned to Liara.

'What is this place?'

'I bought this when Feron first dropped into surveillance. It has come in handy and it will do while I debrief you and explain what's going on. Also it will give us a place for Shepard to get ready.' She shook Shepard who stirred under her hands.

'Wake up Shepard!'

Nothing.

'Goddess! Shepard! Wake UP!' She shook harder and Alex jerked awake.

'We there already?' She asked her eyes blurry.

'Yes and it's time for you to get ready.'

Shepard stretched her arms, her hair falling over her eyes, she automatically went to check her omni-tool and a slight frown crossed her brow when she realised that she no longer had it. She glanced at Theros who was watching her with interest and he gave a small smile.

'Did I fall asleep?' She asked guiltily.

'Yeah, but you looked like you needed the rest Ti, so I didn't mind.' He crossed his arms and smirked, the blush rising around her cheeks was evident that she had some idea of her sleeping habits.

'Ti?'

'Yeah _your _new nickname. What's that matter you don't like it?'

She shrugged her shoulders, crossing her legs, 'I don't get the reference is all.'

'You're not supposed to.' He grinned. She smirked back and stuck out her tongue. She seemed to be in a better mood than when she got in the shuttle but a darkness still clouded her eyes.

Liara handed her a small box, inside a few pills sat.

'Uh, Liara?' She blankly looked at them.

'They'll change your hair colour,' she explained pushing Theros into the seat next to her. 'Although your lovely shade of red is particularly alluring we need you to be different. So I was thinking black. And you'll have to wear contacts to hide your green, so brown it is.'

'You mean boring.'

She heard Dr. Chakwas stifle a snigger and she coughed to cover it. The grin on Theros' face was becoming infectious, she could feel her face mimic his. Some confusing feelings were speeding through her mind. She thought she loved Garrus, even though she was afraid to admit it to herself or him, but maybe it was because she was afraid of being alone, after what happened with Kaiden. Garrus' scent had comforted her in times she felt low, but she could smell him on her clothing from their argument earlier and the only feeling it brought was anger, pain and confusion.

But there was a new smell on her clothing that her sensitive nose was picking up. It clashed with the other, after a second she connected it with Theros, she had fallen asleep on him after all. It was so different from Garrus, where he was musky, Theros' scent had a spicy underlay, he smelt of rich earth and books, instead of heat clips and armour polish. Her chest panged when she thought of Garrus especially after what just happened, but she couldn't dwell on the fact there was work to be done.

She glanced at him through her hair, he was looking at her with concerned eyes.

She gave him a heartfelt smile, was it wrong that he seemed so human? He understood her colloquial comments which even Garrus, Liara and Tali struggled with from time to time, made human gestures and she was sure that he understood her intent behind her words. She wasn't stupid she knew he was a Turian, but he seemed so much more mature than Garrus, not so hot headed. Maybe he had spent a long time around humans, maybe that's why she felt comfortable around him, all this speculation was annoying her. She'd have to have a serious talk with him later on.

She knocked back a pill and clenched her teeth when she felt the tingle on her scalp. The hair in front of her eyes slowly turned a deep raven black as if the dye was being dripped onto the strands. She rolled her eyes, she hated changing her hair colour, it was just Liara's paranoia that was doing this.

'So what's happening to Rizz?' She gestured to her hair, 'after all I get such a wonderful makeover.'

'Actually we aren't doing anything to him apart from inserting a small tracking device under his skin which we'll be doing to you as well.' Dr. Chakwas said. 'He's unknown to Cerberus so there's no need to change him.'

'What?! That's not fair.'

'It's because I'm just that perfect Commander, don't worry you'll get used to it.' Theros held his hands behind his head and winked when she glared at him. Shepard narrowed her eyes and threw the half empty pill box in his direction clipping him in the side of the head.

'Commander!' Scolded Liara.

'What? It slipped.'

'I'll get you back for that,' he growled playfully.

'I'll like to see you try old man,' she quipped.

His reply was lost as her head was jerked back by Liara, she held her eyelids open and dropped a small lens into her eye, she quickly did the same to the other, her eyes automatically watered and she went to rub them but she was batted away by Dr. Chakwas.

'Ah, ah, ah, Commander, behave.'

'Fine' she muttered resigned to her fate. She looked around the room while her eyes protested.

'What's in the crates?'

'Your new clothing and identity. Shepard you are Theros' uh well...'

'What?' She looked between Theros, Liara and Dr. Chakwas, only Theros looked clueless. She changed her tone of voice into ''High Command.''

'Liara T'soni you tell me this instant!' A pang of worry slipped in.

'Well to make a realistic cover, we decided it would be most believable if you were, uh married. Just recently in fact.' She smiled, clearly amused.

Shepard looked at Theros who was just as pale as she. He smiled weakly at her and she felt like she was going to faint.

Married!?

To Theros!?

_Oh fuck._

…_..._

Hope you all like it, Lots of hijinks to come. Please review and let me know. Click on the Picture to see a rough drawing of Theros =D


	14. Chapter 14

***okie peeps if you wish to know what Theros looks like the picture is now the cover. Simply click and you're away. Also Turians are really fecking hard to draw. I know he looks a little young, so it's Theros in his twenties . lololol heads up this chapter is not for the faint or weak hearted. But it is for those with dirty, dirty, dirty xenophied minds... you have been warned. Rawr.***

Chapter 14

'Married?' Shepard squeaked.

Theros tried to hide that he had raised his brow, he failed. Dr. Chakwas looked too happy at Shepard's still form, her amusement was evident. Liara also tried to disguise her grin.

'Can... can I talk... to you over there please,' Shepard stuttered. She hadn't blinked, pointing in the direction she was talking about she stood up like a puppet and drifted over to the discreet little office in the corner.

Liara nodded and followed behind her. Theros turned to Dr. Chakwas.

'Am I really that bad Doctor?' He inquired.

She waved her hand at him, 'oh hush Theros, _you know_ your not. The Commander, she, she, well, lets just say she probably never thought she was going to find someone to marry. Let alone a 'fake' marriage, it's just thrown her a bit.' She patted him in the shoulder, 'don't worry she'll be back to normal soon enough, now lets sort out your meds for the week.'

Liara shut the door behind her. She was a little worried. Shepard hadn't sworn in over twenty minutes, she hadn't even raised her voice, there were two reasons, either she was really pissed off, to the point that Liara should be looking for cover, or... Liara prayed it was the or; or she was so shocked she couldn't think.

'Married?' Shepard repeated in the same squeak.

Liara threw herself into her explanation, 'yes it's accepted nowadays. Also it means that you'll have a lot of privacy and people will understand if they don't see you for a day or two.'

'Why wouldn't they see us?' Shepard still had a glassy look to her face, clearly something wasn't registering.

Liara said nothing simply raised her eyebrows, pointed out her chin and unfolded her hands in a 'y'know' action. A couple of cogs finally rotated and Shepard clicked.

'Oh for fucks sake Liara. Really!?' She rolled her eyes. Inside Liara sighed with relief, she was back to normal. Well normal for Shepard.

'Yes Shepard really, please this is the only way to help Feron, please,' Liara pouted. Not that she meant to.

Alex couldn't resist Liara when she turned on the cute. It would be like kicking a small, helpless, blue puppy.

Shepard rubbed her eyes, 'oh fuck, yes of course I'll still help. If this fucks up you are in some serious fucking trouble young lady.'

Liara smiled at the hollow threat. Shepard grinned in reply.

'Bitch.'

'I learnt from the best,' she quickly retorted, 'oh, Shepard I've been meaning to ask you..'

_Oh bollocks here it comes, Liara I love you but please don't mention him. I had just forgotten. _

'What is it?' _(Please no Liara.)_

'You and Garrus-'

Shepard stopped her by holding up her hand, tears had automatically flooded her eyes and she swallowed deeply to stop them from pouring down her cheeks. She took a deep breath.

'Liara.. there is no me and Garrus. I-I don't think there ever was. We, we are going to pretend like nothing ever happened,' she swallowed her pain and rubbed her eyes. She gave Liara a little smile for the look of it.

'But that can't be right! We all know he cares for you Shepard! What on the goddess' name happened when you were talking to him?' She rubbed Alex's arm and wiped her tears from her cheek for her.

'Things were said, things that can't be forgiven I don't think, things that won't be forgotten. It started as a misunderstanding and then got worse and by that point, it had gone too far. It's for the best Liara, honestly.' Alex shrugged.

Liara looked doubtful but she didn't express it, 'well try to enjoy yourself this week, I know you're on a mission but you'll have time to yourself you won't always be in the hotel room.'

Shepard gave a dirty look, 'maybe that won't be such a bad thing,' she winked.

Liara looked shocked, after a second or two she burst into laughter.

'Oh Shepard!' She batted her arm, 'you certainly know how to make yourself feel better. I had no idea. I mean he's certainly very attractive, you do like men with scars don't you!'

'He's lovely, I know he's just being polite most the time, but it's nice that we can joke about and have fun. The fact that yeah he's really good looking and fucking yummy means nothing.' Liara gave her a look and Alex giggled. 'Ok I lie. Besides if Garrus doesn't want me, then there's no reason to look elsewhere is there?'

Liara shook her head in disbelief, but she had a huge smile plastered on her face.

'Luckily for you, you've just got married to the handsome Turian then.'

Shepard grinned and opened the door where Theros and Dr. Chakwas were chatting. Both looked in their direction and Shepard and Liara couldn't help but burst into fits of giggles, Dr. Chakwas rolled her eyes and continued talking. Theros looked more worried.

Shepard took her seat next to him and gave him a wink. He coughed and embarrassed turned back to the Doctor.

Liara rummaged around in one of the crates and took out a couple of omni-tools and a dress. The dress hung off the shoulders and was a deep purple, it was cut to the thigh and had a slit up the right side. Made of some silky looking material it shimmered in Liara's hands. Shepard loved it instantly.

With a girly giggle she leapt up and snatched it out of her grip, running into the office she reappeared a few moments later. Theros' jaw dropped open and he stared. The dress clung in all the right places and against Shepard's pale skin, he felt his libido shift gear. Overdrive. She nervously patted her hair.

'Well?'

'Oh Shepard, you look fantastic.' Dr. Chakwas commented.

Theros merely nodded too stunned to say anything and Liara was blushing. Deeply.

_Fuck yeah._

'I've got a good feeling about this' she smiled and gave a little twirl.

Then Liara held up a pair of six inch killer black heels, they had ribbons which would wind up to Shepard's thigh tying off just below the dress' hemline.

'Good feeling's gone,' she whispered staring in dread at the shoes.

'Shepard...' Liara had an evil smile on her face.

_Oh fuck no._

…_..**..._

She tripped out of the cab. Theros gripped her arm.

'You ok?'

She grinned sheepishly, 'it's no different than usual except I'm wearing bear traps on my feet.'

'Bear traps?'

'Yeah they're gonna snap my ankles.' She could hear Liara giggling in her ear. She had fitted them with earplugs until they were signed into the hotel. Then they would be on their own until tomorrow evening.

One of the hotel staff started to unload their baggage, most of which was equipment, but a few cases had clothing (mostly dresses for Shepard. And more bear traps. Clearly Liara didn't think she would need a decent pair of trainers) Theros thanked the bellboy and motioned toward the door.

'Shepard! Theros! You are _supposed _to be married! At least make it convincing!' Liara hissed in their ears.

Shepard glanced at Theros who gave the slightest eye roll and held out his arm. With butterflies fluttering in her stomach she held on for dear life. She may be graceful on the battlefield but not in a pair of heels.

She could hear her shoes clicking on the polished floor. The Asari receptionist welcomed them with a beaming smile.

'Welcome to Belle Vue! How may I help you today?' The Asari was young and had pretty blue flecks around her eyes, a light purple skin colour and big blue eyes, she was dressed in the universal style but with a personal flair of some glitter.

Theros smiled back, _switching on the charm, smug bastard._

'Ahh, my wife and I have a reservation, under the name Ris'ono.' He smiled again.

Shepard tried her best to look like a loving wife but with the way Liara was giving her instructions in her ear she wasn't doing too well.

'Excuse me where are the rest rooms?' Shepard asked.

'To your right ma'am.'

She squeezed Theros' arm and he let her go.

'Are you ok?'

'I'm fine, I'll be right back.' She tottered over to the bathroom and opened up a comms channel to Liara.

'What! What the fuck do you want!' She angrily whispered into the mic in her omni-tool.

'People aren't convinced Shepard,' Liara replied.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do? I've never been someone's wife before!' She whined. Her feet had already begun to hurt and she just wanted to sit down. She perched on the edge of the toilet seat.

'Flirt,' came her reply.

'That's your bright idea? Flirt? You've gotta be shitting me,' Alex rubbed her eyes.

'Be careful of your make up! And yes, flirting, you can flirt right?' She didn't need to Liara's face to know that she was worried.

_That's it! She wants to see some flirting, she's gonna get some fucking awesome flirting. _Shepard's psyche pulled on a miniskirt, a pair of thigh highs and declared war. With renewed purpose she left the bathroom.

She tried to relax as she walked, and her hips began to sway, when Theros glanced in her direction she put a little extra oomph into her swing. She smiled saucily ignoring the receptionist when she was sure she had his attention.

'Are you ok? I was going to spend a search party,' he joked, he was blushing under his collar, she could see it rising around his neck.

'I'm fine darling,' she kissed him lightly on the cheek and wrapped her arm around his waist.

'Wh- ah, uh,' he coughed, 'yes uh shall we continue then?'

He gingerly wrapped his own arm around her, his blush had blossomed. Shepard's psyche cracked her knuckles.

The Asari beamed and took Theros' ID out of his hand. After a quick scan she frowned.

'Is there a problem?' Theros inquired.

'No sir, but could you and your wife take a seat I'll only be a moment,' she beamed again and trotted off into what Shepard assumed was an office. Theros shrugged and led Shepard to a nearby couch.

'Flirt...' Liara reminded.

Shepard rolled her eyes, luckily Theros had sat on her right side, so if she was to cross her legs like this... yep the dress slit nicely to the top of her thigh. And if she didn't know any better he would... _Ahah! Got ya peeking!_

True his eyes glanced down and lingered for a second, Shepard slowly turned her head giving him a chance to look away before he thought he was caught. She laid on his chest, she knew that he would be able to see down the top of her dress. She felt him clear his throat. _This is so much fucking fun! Why was I so hesitant?_

She wrapped her arm around his neck and began to stroke the sensitive area underneath his fringe. His arm was draped over her shoulders and as she stroked he tightened his grip his nails digging into her skin slightly. His eyes were half closed and there was a slight rumble in his chest.

'Enough woman,' he whispered.

'What's the matter husband?' She asked sweetly.

His pupils had begun to dilate and she knew she was really winding him up. Liara had gone quiet in her ear. The receptionist walked over to them and Theros nearly jumped up from the sofa, Alex couldn't help but giggle.

'Congratulations General, we have upgraded yourself and your wife to the master suite,' she handed over his ID.

'Retired General,' he corrected.

'Oh don't listen to him sweetie, he's just a bit grumpy.' Shepard's psyche cackled and rolled around.

The receptionist wasn't put off in the slightest, she nodded, 'your bags will be brought up soon, it's on the top floor.' She directed them to the elevator.

Theros and Shepard stepped inside. A crackle in her ears happened the moment she entered the steel room and the doors shut. She looked at Theros who nodded, their comms had gone. They travelled one floor before another person got on. Shepard remembering her role wrapped herself around Theros' neck.

'Alex...' the way he said her name sent shivers down her spine.

'Yes husband?' She breathed into neck.

The other person left them a few floors up. Theros tensed.

'Stop...'

Reluctantly she removed her arms and stood next to him.

'What's the matter? Didn't you like it?' She asked nonchalantly.

Theros regarded her for a moment, with lightning speed he moved. His hands gripped her arms, holding them above her head, he pinned her against the wall of the lift with his body.

'So help me Alex..' he inhaled deeply by her neck. She was lucky he was holding her up, she felt like her knees were going to buckle. Inside her psyche swooned dramatically. He stared into her eyes.

'Or what?' She whispered. Daring him.

He spun her around to the other wall roughly, she gasped; not in pain, but something else, something good.

'This is a dangerous game you play. Keep teasing me like you are and I may be tempted to do something about it, I only have so much will power, and you are chipping it away,' he growled. She said nothing but she was breathing heavily, her chest was pressed against his, his arms wrapped around hers. His scent clouded around her. She could feel the shape of his body against hers. Looking at his eyes which were incredibly dilated, she licked her dry lips. Theros groaned and lent closer, they were just about to kiss when;

'SHEPARD!' Liara screamed in her ear.

The elevator doors had opened at their floor allowing some of the signal to enter. Theros clutched his head and Alex mimicked him. The moment was lost.

They left the lift and they staggered to the door once unlocked they staggered inside still gripping their temples. She quickly found the bedroom, not stopping to admire the view she opened her omni-tool.

'What the fuck Liara?!'

'I was worried you weren't replying. I thought something had happened,' she apologised. _Something was going to happen you harpy!_

'Fucking hell woman, if it's not one of you it's the other,' Theros replied from the other side of the room.

Shepard grinned at him and he winked back, _must have regained some of his self control. Bugger. I'm guessing that won't happen as easily. Good I like a challenge._

…...

Well ***fans herself with her hand*** that was interesting. To say the least. Phew. Well uh, bit speechless. Uh review I guess. I need a lay down. Or a cold bath. Both I think.


	15. Chapter 15

-Cough- well uh, plenty of uh, reviews … yay? Definitely some uh, mixed feelings.. . Not gonna lie threw me off a bit, kinda a hit to me confidence. But Vorbarra picked me up and dusted me off as well as the uh, lets say um, 'positive' reviews lol. Thank you to all those who have reviewed, I do ask for the good and the bad. And this chapter has been floating around in me noggin for a while, this is not because of the reviews I repeat NOT because of the reviews. As you might have picked up Shepard's mind tends to torture her, and today is no different. Sorry about the late update, was upset and couldn't bring myself to write . Anyway sorry about the mini novel I've just written. Here you are.

Chapter 15

Shepard was tired, tottering around with lethal traps attached to her feet will do that to a gal, Liara had cut off contact and they were officially on their own. All Shepard wanted to do was to get into bed. Alone; not that her hormones were too happy about this and were currently sulking in the corner.

She was definitely too tired to be arguing with Theros. It was about the sleeping arrangements. As in there wasn't much choice.

'Theros no, you are not sleeping on the sofa. This bed is huge, it's made for like nine people, you won't get a decent nights sleep otherwise,' she perched on the edge untying her heels.

He rubbed his forehead, 'with all due respect this is not up for discussion Alex. It's not right.'

_Not right my arse. But it's ok to almost kiss your commanding officer in the elevator. Hypocrite. Just like every other man. _She rolled her eyes.

'Who's the commanding officer here?' She retorted.

'Well seeing as we're undercover and you're supposed to be non alliance and I'm a retired General, I guess it's me,' he smirked.

'Haha very funny. Seriously though Rizz, you'll sleep really badly, and it's not fair.'

'I'm not discussing this, you are having the bed, I will take the sofa, now sleep I know you're tired. When the bags arrive I'll set up Liara's equipment,' he smiled at Alex's scowl and shut the door.

'Arsehole.' Alex muttered, pulling off her other shoe she then realized that she would have to sleep in her underwear as their bags hadn't arrived, she shuddered at the thought of what Liara would have packed for her pyjamas. She was going to have to do some shopping as soon as possible.

She pulled off her dress and slung it over the vanity's chair, she wandered into the on-suite and attempted to remove her make up. It was times like this that her mind drifted, and not for the best. She wished she was back on the Normandy, as exciting and vital as this mission was she really needed to talk to someone, Tali or Liara, not over omni-tool she needed a girly chat. Desperately.

Thoughts raced around her head, so much had happened today. Most of it bad, strike that all of it bad. Guilt overwhelmed her and she felt her stomach roll, she was happy she hadn't eaten otherwise she was pretty sure she would be sick.

Theros.

Garrus.

Both of those names brought forward a conflict of emotions.

First Theros, seems like the perfect guy, and in any other situation Shepard would have jumped on him in an instant, _not that I held back. Fuck... _she wiped off her mascara, _I can't believe what could have happened. I mean for fuck's sake, kissing?! Flirting?! It all seemed like such a good idea at the time, but really? I mean what could have happened honestly. I don't know him. He definitely doesn't know me, he'd run a fucking mile if he did. _She wet a piece of tissue and wiped off her lipstick, _what the fuck was I thinking? Oh Alex you're a fucking mess you know that right? _

She sighed having removed her make up she wandered to the bed and threw herself onto it. Burying her head in the pillow she let out a frustrated groan.

_Such a fucking child! You get hurt so you look for something to make you feel better without thinking of the consequences. _For a split second she wished she dated when she was an adolescent, maybe if she had this situation would be a lot clearer. The only other serious relationship before this mess was Kaiden and he left her.

She crawled under the quilt and let the softness cocoon her, after a minute or two she pulled the blanket over her head, it was warm in her little cavern. But it was missing one thing, the something that she had fallen asleep to for a while now, something comforting.

Garrus' smell.

The smell that clung to her skin was Theros' and it was alien and unknown. She knew her head was just playing up on her, in truth she didn't know what she was going to do, she loved Garrus as hard as she tried to deny, but he had made it clear that he didn't feel the same any more about her. Perhaps the best thing she could do would be to stop thinking about it, and see what happens between the both of them. But she really had to stop acting like a bitch in heat.

With her mind made up she made a threatening gesture to her hormones and pointed to a nearby cage. They resisted at first but she dragged them kicking and screaming and locked the door. She held the key in her hand. She wouldn't destroy it but she wouldn't make it easy to find either, she closed her eyes, held back her hand and threw it into the turmoil that was her heart.

_Good fucking luck._

…_.**..._

Liara stepped out the shuttle and rubbed her head, she had a massive migraine growing. She thanked Dr. Chakwas and slowly made her way to her quarters, it would be another hour or sp before she started to receive information from her equipment that was with Theros and Shepard. It was long enough to have a shower and something to eat.

She left the lift and wandered to her door, she wasn't paying attention and she bumped into someone on the way.

'Oh forgive me, my mind was elsewhere,' she closed her eyes and rubbed them with the balls of her fingers.

'I know, probably the same place mine is,' a flanging voice replied.

'Oh Garrus, I-I didn't realise it was you,' she swallowed rapidly, 'what-what are you doing outside my quarters?'

He coughed into his hand, Liara knew Garrus very well and she could tell he was pretty torn up, he had a cut across his knuckles and his face looked worn, she waited patiently for him to talk.

'I received a message before Ale... Shepard left... I uh, may have said something that I'm going to regret. There was a... a misunderstanding I think.' He scratched his scar nervously, 'I don't feel comfortable talking about this in the corridor, do you mind if we...?' He left the question hanging and Liara felt her heart crumble, Garrus had always been very closed off with his feelings, unless he was talking to Shepard, and she couldn't help but sympathise.

Both of them were a mess. Neither of them knew if they were coming or going. She took him gently by the arm and led him into her quarters, perhaps she could shed some light on the situation and provide some comfort.

…...

Right like I said not written because of the reviews, this was the plan. So ner. I'm gonna ask for reviews but i'm kinda worried about what ill receive lol. Be kind, but feel free to be harsh as well.


	16. Chapter 16

Thank you to everyone for showing your support, brought a tear to my eye :3 Hope everyone likes this chapter. I know I will. Here you are:

Chapter 16

Liara led Garrus to a chair, she pulled out another from her desk, then she sat down and waited for him to begin talking. He looked very awkward and uncomfortable, to help him relax she began to idly work on her omni-tool; checking whether they had set up the surveillance equipment. She wasn't going to push him to talk she had to let him do it in his own time.

Garrus cleared his throat, Liara looked up and closed her omni-tool.

'So, uh did everything go ok?' he asked quietly.

'Yes, it did thank you,' she smiled reassuringly at him, she didn't know what to reveal to him, anything she could say could make things worse.

'Their cover is intact?' _He's sticking to the safe questions_, Liara thought.

'Yes, She is a, uh very,' she coughed, thinking how to describe Shepard's antics, 'convincing actress.'

This went down well and Garrus gave a little smile.

'She always did like a bit of drama.'

_Only a bit? She calls that a bit? _Liara's mind thought treacherously. She smiled back and nodded. Time to dive into the deep end.

'Speaking of drama Garrus, I couldn't help but notice that she was, upset when she arrived at the shuttle,' she left the sentence open, hoping that he would fill in the blanks. His jaw had hardened and his mandibles flared slightly, crossing his arms he scowled, _oops maybe a little too soon._

Then without warning it was like he was deflated of his annoyance, he slumped forward resting his forearms on his knees. He sighed heavily, it sounded like he had been holding it in for a while.

'I-' he sighed again. Running his talons over his fringe, he sat up.

Liara watched patiently, although she wanted to squeeze him for every last drop of information she knew that he would just clam up. He was different from Shepard, she opened up and flooded you, once you had won her trust and friendship which was the hard bit.

She held up a hand and left her quarters leaving Garrus to his thoughts for a moment, she returned shortly after with a couple mugs, both of which were scolding hot. She handed one to him.

'Tea, don't worry it's safe,' she explained.

Garrus nodded a thank you and took it gently from her hand. She sat back on her chair and gingerly sipped her own, best cure for everything Liara had learnt, human tea was the best thing she had ever drank. It was called the elixir of life by most humans, and she had to agree.

He took a sip and sighed again. Looking her straight in the eyes he began to talk.

'I fucked up Liara, I fucked up so bad,' he stared into his mug.

'What happened Garrus?' Liara asked gently.

'I-I was, I was so angry at her. When you said I couldn't go, my mind, I just, it was like a flip switched. I mean I had already argued with _him_ over her, and now he was taking my place.'

'I don't understand how he's taken your place Garrus,' her heart writhed with guilt.

'I, I always watch her back, I protect her, and now I can't,' his voice was small and quiet. 'And then she stuck up for him, took his point over mine, I wasn't thinking rationally and I just blew.'

Liara frowned, 'she didn't stick up for him Garrus, she stuck up for me. Deep down you know that there was no way you could be the one to help infiltrate Cerberus,' her voice was soft but it had a edge of steel underlined.

'Yeah I know, but at the time all I saw was red. I took it out on her.'

'What did you say Garrus?' Getting to the crux of the argument, Shepard had been sparing with that particular information.

'Well I thought she was talking about, something other than the mission when she came to talk to me, and so what she said. Hurt. A lot, and so I tried to hurt her y'know. She kept asking what we'd been arguing about and I wouldn't tell her, and then she lost her temper and I made some stupid remark, and then she lost it. I let my feelings get the better of me.'

He gulped another draught of his tea. When he next spoke he said it so quietly that Liara had to learn forward slightly to hear.

'I said that I thought she wasn't like other humans, and that maybe I was wrong.'

Liara paled, it was much worse, much worse than she thought, 'Oh Garrus..' she whispered.

He continued as if she hadn't spoken, 'and then she said: I can't believe you just said that Vakarian, maybe I was wrong Garrus, thinking a Turian could care about me, thinking you cared about me,' he breathed in heavily, 'I remember every word, she was crying at the time, I made her cry Liara.'

Liara was stunned, no wonder Shepard had been so upset.

'So what do you want to do?'

'I want to sort this, she sent me a message before she left saying that she was talking about the mission, not about our situation. But I had already fucked up by then. I wanna clear the air.' He drank the last of his tea and put the mug down on the floor beside his foot.

'Is that all Garrus?'

'No Liara, if I had my way that wouldn't be all, but I think I've hurt her too much, I don't think she would.'

Liara drank her tea, time to get harsh, 'well you're in this situation because you assumed, maybe you should stop assuming. If you want to then you should try, is she worth the fight?'

Garrus' eyes flashed with primal rage, 'do you even have to ask me?' He growled.

'Well yes seeing as you would give up.' She grinned, 'I will help Garrus but I won't endanger this mission, I'll set up an omni-tool link, but you can't use her last name, and you can't mention anything to do with the alliance or the Normandy. I'm trusting you to be sensible Garrus. Please be careful. There are lives at stake, but I can see that letting you have no contact for a week would be hazardous to my health,' she smirked.

'Thank you Liara,' he sighed a breath of relief, 'what would I do with out you?'

'Wallow in self pity?'

'Yeah probably. Although I'd drown, I'm not the strongest swimmer.'

'Garrus Vakarian, not a strong swimmer? There's a thought,' she giggled, 'you'll be able to talk to her tomorrow night. I'll establish contact and I'll ask her if it's ok for you to talk to her. Fair enough?'

He stood up, Liara followed him, 'yes thank you,' he gave her a little awkward hug. He wasn't going to give up that easily on his reckless beauty, oh no. Theros had another thing coming if he thought he would just leave it alone.

He said goodbye to Liara, who after he left practically inhaled the rest of her tea. She brought up the profiles of Garrus and Theros, the two men fighting over Shepard. Theros was strong competition, but Garrus wasn't backing down.

Deep down Liara hoped it would be enough.

…...

Thought we should have a bit of Garrus for once, hope you liked, I know a very mild chapter but it had to be written. Hope you all liked, lemme know, FYI most exciting things on the way Vorbarra and I have been conspiring mwahahahahhaaaa. Much love xx


	17. Chapter 17

Lots of exciting things have been happening sorry for the lateish update, basically I went to see a Living Legend (Norman Lovett XD) afterwards my long term bf proposed! wheeee! yay! Enough from me heres a cheeky chapter!

Chapter 17

Alex opened her eyes groggily, her mouth was stupidly dry and she felt like she had a fuzz growing her on her tongue. She coughed and tried sitting up, this brought a splitting headache through her temple, any movement sent another spike through her already aching head. She had, had the weirdest dream, all anger and sadness. She swung her legs out of her bed and wandered toward the bathroom, her room was too light, EDI must have turned up the lights to get her out of her pit.

It was cold as well, something she really didn't need.

'EDI? Turn the heating up...' she muttered. Her dream had shook her, the feeling of crying and shouting, fleeting images of lust. It was a strange one, especially nowadays most of her dreams consisted of running through an endless forest; and they were bad enough.

She stumbled to the bathroom, she rubbed her eyes as she walked, she wasn't paying attention when she wandered into what she assumed was her display case, but was actually the bedroom door which swung open as she bumped into it.

She staggered to the sink and began washing her face, it was even brighter in here as well. She groaned and groped around for her toothbrush, which she couldn't find; her hand hit polished marble surface instead of her tumbler, she felt up the wall and she couldn't find her mirror either.

'What the fuck?' She whispered.

'Uh Alex? Are you ok?'

Her eyes snapped open, a feeling of realization flooded through her. _Rizz? What's he doing in my room? We didn't do-? Oh god I hope we didn't... Wait I was with Liara, I had to go to the hotel, _her eyes scanned the surfaces in front of her, sink, cooker, fridge. _Oh so I'm in the hotel not the Normandy. Ah shit.. I'm such a fucking fool._

She stood up straight and turned her head to face him.

'Sorry I forgot where I was, I thought I was in the Normandy for a moment there,' she replied sleepily.

Theros coughed, 'so would that explain your, uh sleeping, attire?'

She looked down. Suddenly it became clear why she was so cold. She was only wearing her underwear. Her matching purple set, a lacy favourite. A set that was never meant for male eyes, well definitely not Theros'.

Her brain switched off and she screamed. Her biotics flared as she tried to cover herself, she was a physically shy woman, and this was probably her worst nightmare.

'Oh my fucking god close your eyes!' She yelled.

Theros just laughed, Shepard's biotics began making things rise in the air, and he was hit in the back of the head by a book then his laughter stopped.

'ALEX STOP!' He shouted back.

'Get out, get out, get out!' She flung whatever was closest to her at him, which was unfortunately for Theros was a glass. It shattered on the wall behind him as he ducked.

'Calm. Down!' He was trying to keep his eyes closed and dodge the things flying at him at the same time. He tripped over the lamp that had been knocked over. Alex was making her way over to the bedroom slowly, her departure was hindered by the fact she would stop and cover herself with her arms whenever Theros opened his eyes, which he had to do to avoid being concussed.

'Stop please!'

'Get out my fucking way! You pervert! Why the fuck didn't you mention anything before I had crossed the fucking room! You bastard!'

Theros scrambled for cover as several data pads flew in his direction, one smashed a picture and the others clattered against the wall. Her biotics were fully loose now, Shepard was a very powerful biotic, this situation could get dangerous fast.

_Arrogant bastard, did he think he could get away with ogling me?!_

'Alex calm down my eyes are closed! They're closed!' He repeated waving his arms.

'Oh now they're closed?! Well too fucking late mister, you already got a fucking eyeful!' She hurled the remote control at him which hit him in the shoulder.

'Well I'm not gonna stand here and take a beating either!' He strode across the room and grabbed her wrists. She struggled, the biotic blue rising from her body. She twisted in his grip but he wouldn't let her go.

'FUCK OFF THEROS!' She screamed.

'You need to calm down Alex, you're gonna end up hurting yourself.' He held her tighter.

They stumbled both fighting for advantage, Theros was being pushed back slowly but surely. The back oh his calves hit the sofa and he felt gravity take it's hold.

'Ale-' He fell backwards still holding onto her wrists, which she fell on top of him, ungracefully. Her knee hit him in a very delicate area and he felt all the air get sucked out of his body as it contracted into the foetal position, all the thoughts he had in his head were snapped away, a very dull painful ache flared. But he still had hold of Shepard's flailing hands, all her weight was pressing against him. Painfully.

He pushed her upwards and she fell to the side onto the floor. He slid off as well and ended up holding his own weight from crushing her. He looked her deep in the eyes, a growl rumbling in his chest.

'Enough!'

She stared back at him defiantly, then they both heard the hotel key card being swiped. They lay there stunned as a Asari in uniform wandered in.

'Housekee-' she stared and a flicker of horror crossed her face, 'Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise you were, uh, busy. I'm sorry!' She quickly retreated and shut the door, 'I'll uh, call back later!' She trilled through the door.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Theros reached over to a chair and grabbed a jacket, he passed it to Shepard who was giggling uncontrollably, he slid onto the floor and stretched out his legs, the pain hadn't disappeared but it had abated a little. He chuckled.

Shepard had slipped on the coat and sat next to him with her legs crossed. Their laughter had died down and they sat in an awkward silence for a moment.

'Sorry-'

'Sorry'

They spoke at the same time.

'Please let me, I'm sorry for not saying anything earlier, but it was quite a shock. And in my defence I can't tell the difference between um, undergarments and your swimming clothing,' Theros chuckled, 'the screaming clued me in.'

Alex rolled her eyes, 'yeah well I'm sorry too, I may have over reacted.'

Theros looked around dramatically, 'no? Y'think?'

She batted him on the arm, 'it was just as surprising for me as it was for you, and next time I will kill you. FYI. You're lucky there wasn't an airlock in the room, it would have had your name on it.'

He shrugged, 'point taken.'

'So drama over, shall we go get something to eat?'

'If I hadn't already seen most of you I would say you might get fat if you keep eating like you do, but then I want to live so pretend I didn't say anything.'

'Careful Rizz if we pass an airlock you might not be so lucky.'

…...

This gave me the serious giggles. Lemme know xxx


	18. Chapter 18

Well sorry about the late update peoples lotta stuff been happening, but I promise an update every week that ok?

Chapter 18

To Shepard's dismay all her clothing was indeed dresses or skirts, her only shoes were heels, Liara was clearly determined to make her snap an ankle while she was here, after a quick shower she got dressed in a plain green blouse and short black skirt, a pair of three inch black heels were the smallest she could find, so she dutifully slipped on the offending pair and she was ready.

A quick once over in the mirror for luck and she wandered into the kitchen where Theros was standing waiting, his jaw dropped slightly and she grinned gleefully, holding onto his arm for dear life they made their way to the breakfast room on the first floor, they passed the young Asari on her rounds, she blushed and quickly entered the nearest room with her trolley. Shepard gave an embarrassed giggle and Theros smirked, tutting.

They were led to a lovely table next to a window, pale sunlight streamed through the glass; covering the white tablecloth in a warm gold. As soon as she sat down Alex kicked off her heels sighing in relief.

'That's a shame, you look nice in heels,' Theros commented.

'Thank you, but they fucking hurt, as soon as we're able I'm getting a pair of bloody trainers,' she smiled back.

'Ever the lady,' Theros quipped.

His reply was a quick sharp kick to the shins, 'I bet you're glad I'm not wearing heels now aren't you darling?' She said sweetly.

He rubbed his shin, 'definitely, so what would you like to eat?'

'Something deep fried and covered in something unhealthy,' she breathed in deeply able to smell all the lovely food from the kitchen.

'Fry up it is.'

...*...

After eating their own body weight in fried food, they made their way back to their room, Shepard carried her heels much to Theros' disappointment. She threw herself onto the sofa and groaned in happiness.

'Oh my god, I'm so full!'

'Not rising to the bait, there are many things I could reply with but for now I will just say, I think the good feeling will disappear, Liara's trying to contact us,' he was bent down by one of the various machines, a green light was flashing.

He pressed a button and an Asari who looked very different from Liara popped up.

'Hello Mr and Mrs Ris'ono your assistant Lana here, checking in' the voice sounded like Liara's, she had just adjusted her appearance and the pitch of her voice, very convincing but subtle, clearly she didn't trust that the channel wasn't being monitored.

'Hello Lana,' Alex said winking. Theros rolled his eyes and greeted her as well.

''Lana'' smiled and clearly struggled with not rolling her own eyes, 'are you enjoying your stay?'

'It's lovely thank you, apart from not having any suitable clothing. I will have to strangle whoever packed my bag for me,' threatened Alex.

'That's a shame, you look lovely,' Lana commented.

Theros interrupted them both, 'may I ask why you're calling Lana?'

'Yes, you have a meeting tomorrow at the café on the end of the road at nine, an old friend wished to see you about a business proposition, and a work colleague would like to know if he could contact Alex tonight, he didn't want to disturb you so he asked if I could check ahead.'

'A work colleague?' Theros looked at Alex who shrugged, they understood the bit about the café, they wondered when Feron would contact them, but she had no idea about the work colleague unless...

'Uh Lana, did my colleague say what he wished to talk about?' Her throat had gone dry and she was aware that her body was very close to Theros.

'He says he wishes to talk about an disagreement that happened,' she phrased politely.

'Oh, um well, uh..'

'If I may be so bold, you should give him a chance Ma'am,' Lana said gently, Alex knowing Liara all too well knew that she wouldn't let go of this if she said no.

'Very well. He can message me when he wishes,' she bit her lip worrying.

'Is that a good idea sweetheart?' Theros muttered quietly, he had a light scowl on his face.

'Yes darling I think it is,' a touch of venom entered her voice, Theros backed down obviously not happy.

Lana coughed and they both turned back to the screen, 'well I'll let him know, but I have been told that there is a park near by with a lovely view to the south. Maybe you should take a walk?' She emphasised the words ''view'' and ''south'' Alex nodded.

Finally a reason to go out and do something.

They made their goodbyes and Lana logged off. A few moments passed before Theros spoke up.

'Are you sure you should be talking to him yet?'

'I'm sorry?'

'I saw how upset you were Alex, I'm not blind, I don't wanna be all controlling or anything but I don't want to see you hurt.'

She knew she should be angry, tell him to fuck off and mind his own fucking business but she couldn't bring herself to have a go. Instead a calm understanding flowed through her, she placed her hand on top of his.

'Thanks Rizz but it'll be fine, he just wants to talk, I owe him that much,' she smiled and stood up, 'right, well I'm gonna put something more suitable to going for a walk on, I'll be a few minutes.'

Theros nodded as she closed the door, he then looked at his hand feeling the warmth that Alex's hand left, 'you don't owe him anything,' he said to himself.

Alex shook herself inside the bedroom, _when did I suddenly become all understanding and calm, oh my god?! Am I becoming mature? I don't like this at all. _After a few moments, she eyed up her shoe collection, there were a pair of pretty green kitten heels with a little silver bow on the toe. She cracked her knuckles and grabbed them roughly.

She looked at them happily, she had broken off the heels and after a little adjustment they looked and felt like a pair of pumps, she walked around the room, they pinched a little but all new shoes do, the thing was that she could walk without ripping an tendon. Smug with herself she went to leave.

_Bleep bloop. _

Her heart stopped as she looked at her omni-tool.

_One new message. Open? _

Shaking she clicked open.

**Message from unknown source 11.46**

**Hello Alex.**

**G.V**

It was Garrus.

She typed a quick reply.

**Message to unknown source 11.48**

**Hello. **

**A.**

_Well this is going to be awkward, _she thought.

…...

Erhmahgerd! Lol, okie well again sorry for the late update, hope you all liked, please drop a review and let us know xx


	19. Chapter 19

Ok not gonna lie getting a bit miffed with the reviews that keep saying our Shepard isn't what she could be. Every Shepard is different people! Sorry but ours is childish, immature and a bit selfish, yes she doesn't know how to act in relationships, a lot of people don't. Yes she may be a successful military woman but that means squat when it comes to adult relationships. -breath- ok rant over. For those who like our Shepard thank you XD sorry about the late update contact between Vorbarra and I has been difficult of late. But we promise it will get better, I am doing this chapter solo today but ho-hum.

Chapter 19

Shepard walked out of the bedroom Theros gave a small concerned look.

'Are you ok? You're looking a little pale..' He stepped toward resting his hand on her shoulder.

'Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just uh, well I got a message and for some reason I didn't think it would be this soon; kinda threw me off a bit,' she shrugged, 'was bound to happen, I should have known better really.'

'You don't have to reply you know,' he squeezed his hand.

Shepard smiled at him, 'yeah I know, but I did so ner.'

'Ner? I don't get it.' Theros raised a brow, Alex grinned and walked over to the arm chair where she last saw her purse.

'It means 'tough tits,' and other variations of the saying,' she gave a small cry of triumph when she lifted a cushion and low and behold there was her purse, she checked for the small pistol she had been allowed to bring. It was unfair Theros was allowed to carry a bigger one in plain sight, but she wasn't. That argument with Liara went on for a full ten minutes.

'Oh ok. Well are you ready? Apparently this park has lovely views.' They left the room, an Asari couple walked past, He held out his arm, 'come along wife,' he smirked.

She took his arm looping hers in his, 'of course husband.'

The Asari smiled at them, and Theros nodded his head in reply. As soon as they entered the lift, she whispered in his ear, 'you'll pay for that.'

He whispered back, his face leaning close to hers, she could feel him breathing down her neck, 'totally worth it.'

...

Garrus stared at his temporary omni-tool, he hadn't expected her to agree let alone reply when he sent her a message. It was strange using her first name to address her, but Liara insisted, a lot of humans were called Alex, not so many were called Shepard, he didn't like using it so casually he was going to have to think of another way to address her, it didn't feel right.

Admittedly his message was rather safe. He didn't even know what to send her, what to say, Liara just said to be himself but it was when he was himself and he let his instincts run free it all fell about.

He moved around on the chair that Liara had found for him, he stared at the monitors in her office, on one particular, it showed Alex's heartbeat and body statistics; her omni-tool was constantly taking the readings, not that she knew, Liara programmed it so she knew if they were in combat or in a high stress situation, so she could give advice.

He watched entranced, the rise as her heart pumped, that steady beat. He was taken back only a few nights ago when she lay on his chest asleep, as he watched as her fragile body rose with her breathing, he could feel her heartbeat then, ever since she died he clung to anything that proved that she was alive. She was so fragile, yet her will to live and save everyone made her a pillar of steel, he promised that he would be there to protect her, to cover her six, let nothing hurt her, but he had failed, he had hurt her and that was he worst thing of all.

His own heart panged in loss. He had been such a fool. Opening her message on his omni-tool he summoned the courage and typed back. He decided to use his other name that he acquired on Omega, better than Garrus for the moment.

_..._

_bleep bloop_

_message from unknown source 12.14_

_Open?_

Alex stopped in her tracks, they had left the lift and leaving the hotel when the message came through, she glanced at Theros who rolled his eyes and let go of her arm.

_Open?_** -click-**

**Message from unknown source 12.14**

**Is everything ok? I'm not gonna lie, I'm worried.**

**Angel**

**P.S V. told me about your glasses. **

Shepard couldn't help but smile when she read that he was calling himself Angel, it was clever. She remembered when Archangel removed his helmet and Garrus appeared, her heart fluttered with the memory, she was so happy at that moment. Glancing at Theros who didn't look happy, she smiled and quickly typed a reply.

**Message to unknown source 12.20**

**Everything is fine thank you. There's no need to worry,**

**but I know you will anyway. Hows everything with you? **

**Tell V. that doom is heading his way. **

**A.**

It sent quickly and Shepard's attention returned back to Theros, they continued walking, they turned left when leaving the hotel and wandered down the path, Shepard could see trees not far off which was probably where the park was. Her shoes began pinching her little toes and she couldn't help but think that she was going to have a blister the size of Mars on each foot when they got back.

Theros cleared his throat, 'are you sure talking to him is the best idea?'

'Oh not this shit again, really Rizz, I'm a grown woman, well most of the time, why shouldn't I be talking to him?'

'I just don't think it's a good idea, deep down he's a very selfish man and you will get hurt.'

Anger roiled through Alex, 'Oh and how the fuck would you know?'

'No need to get angry Alex, we used to serve on the same ship, I know him quite well. It may not be what you want to hear but it's the truth.'

She tried to calm down, 'it's been a long time since you served together, he has changed, deep down I'm a very selfish woman doesn't change anything.'

Point made they walked in silence. They passed several shops, birdlike creatures flew overhead and she couldn't help but feel herself relax, the sooner this mission was over the better, everything was too confusing.

'I'm sorry Alex, I didn't mean to anger you.'

'Forget it Rizz, I know you meant well.'

'You're right about everyone being selfish deep down,' he commented.

'Something you'll soon learn, I'm always right, even when I'm wrong,' she looped her arm through his again, 'besides I don't think you're selfish deep down.'

'That's where you're wrong Kitty, if there's something I want I become very selfish. Very selfish indeed.'

Shepard knew he was looking at her, and she felt the blood rush up her neck, her blush covered her cheeks, the low rumble in his voice had made her legs slightly weak. Damn her body, as soon as an attractive guy does something it betrays her completely. The sooner this was all over with the better.

...

Liara peered around her doorway, Garrus was still sitting in his chair, she had sent him out the room when she talked to Alex and Theros, but he now almost obsessively watched the screen which showed her vitals. Her heart beat had picked up for a moment and she heard Garrus give a slight chuckle. She would make him leave in a while, it wasn't healthy, but for now she would leave him be, for now.

**So what do you think eh? Lemme know. Love to all xx**


	20. Chapter 20

**This chapter is dedicated to Merce, for the encouraging words that made us stronger xxx We will be looking at those who review regularly and dedicating each chapter to them. So look out the next one might be you. XD**

**10 points to you if you get the film reference in this chapter! That's all xx Enjoy.**

Chapter 20 (omg)

They wandered aimlessly down the pavement until they came to a gate, Alex swung it open and trotted down the few steps leading into the park. A small pond sat it the middle with what someone thought as a relaxing water feature, it wasn't. She rolled her eyes and plonked on a nearby bench surveying the area.

Theros shimmied her over to make room for himself and lounged next to her, casually he slung his arm over the back of the bench his hand resting on her just below her shoulder. A few minutes passed before Alex piped up.

'So where we looking?'

He nodded his head, 'over there, that building. The one with the heavy looking doors.'

'Of course,' she sighed, 'how could I have thought different.' She angled her head and looked carefully at the building; cameras, keypad locks, steel doors, a lot of security for one simple building. She felt for the nerve calming bundle in her purse, which was her little but powerful pistol.

'I'm going to do a bit of reconnaissance, I need your help, I'm going to go stand by that weird looking plant that's all purpley blue tuber things, and your going to pretend to take my picture, but you'll really be recording the outside of the building. Sound good?' She whispered.

Theros nodded, 'sounds cool, does this mean you'll be pulling pretty poses for my pleasure?'

Shepard threw a punch in his direction but he dodged it easily, 'remember Alex I like the feisty ones.'

She gave him the finger and stuck out her tongue.

She quickly stood and wandered naturally over the over side of the park, occasionally looking at the different plants. Then she reached the giant 'weird looking' one. Actress mode engaged.

'Theros! Theros! Come take my picture against this thing! Pleaase! _(oh god I sound so fake)_' She waved her arm motioning him over. He grinned in reply and quickly jogged over.

'Ok but you have to pose!' He smiled, his mandibles flaring at the dirty look she sent him before remembering what she was supposed to be doing.

Theros brought up his omni-tool and clicked on the camera feature. He quickly set it to record not before he snapped a picture of Shepard beaming, she stood with one hand on her hip the other behind her head, she was beginning to laugh when she realized what she was doing, Theros felt his heart ping, she looked beautiful and carefree. He quickly saved the picture and began to record the outside of the building taking care to zoom in on the cameras and keypad locks. After a moment or two Alex changed pose and he pretended to take another picture.

'Any more? _(please no more)_' She asked.

'Nope got it all, you looked like you were having fun,' he replied.

'Only because I looked like a fool.' She shrugged 'no difference there then.'

Her omni-tool bleeped. A new message.

**Message from unknown source 13.00**

**Damn right I'll worry. There's a few things**

**you don't know. **

**I was wondering if we could have a **

**video chat later, Lana will set it up. **

**I want to apologise in person. Kinda.**

**You get me.**

**Angel.**

Shepard grinned and replied.

**Message to unknown source 13.04**

**Um, ok yeah, why not. **

**How about 21.30 should be back at**

**the hotel room by then. **

**What don't I know? **

**Is it about Rizz? **

**A.**

Patiently Theros waited, he then held out his arm, 'shall we?'

Grinning she slipped her arm through his, 'we shall.'

'Where do you wish to go now?'

'Shoe shopping!'

She heard Theros groan slightly but she steered him toward what she thought would be the main high street.

…..

They stopped for lunch in the café that they would be meeting Feron in the next day, it seemed more convincing and practical if they scouted out the area first, it also put Shepard's mind at ease, she had a gnawing feeling in the back of her mind, something was going to go wrong.

She ordered the Turian equivalent of a Sunday roast, despite the questioning look from the waiter, Theros ordered the same.

'That's a lot of food, not to mention dangerous.'

'Oh shush, I can eat dextro food, I'll be fine, and as for the amount, well lets just say posing makes me hungry.' She almost bounced in her seat when she saw the food arrive, and began to wolf it down.

After a satisfying meal and an education to all in the room about Shepard's eating habits, they went to look for shoes.

It wasn't as bad as Theros thought, she charged into the first shop, grabbed the nearest staff member, and said, 'trainers, size six, any colour, preferably for running. Get to it.' The poor Salarian glanced in Theros' direction who winked in reply. He disappeared into the store room and came back with several pairs.

Much to Theros' surprise she didn't choose the black pair, instead she choose a pair which had little multi-coloured stars on one side. She slipped them on and jumped up and down, before declaring that she'd take them. While she rooted in her purse for her credit chit Theros went up to the counter and paid for them.

He had to run out of the shop when she found out what he had just done. He made it halfway down the street before he heard laughing, Alex jogged up behind him, 'you look so scared!'

'Well yeah, you have a weapon. I want to live.'

'You shouldn't have bought them, I had the money,' she slapped him on the arm.

'Yeah but I wanted to leave this century and I was afraid that if you looked in your purse any longer, well we would never make it out. Besides can't a man treat his wife?'

'Very smooth.' She sat on a wall. Placing her purse next to her she tightened her laces. Sighing she lent back, 'I feel a bit homesick, is that normal?' She said quietly.

'What do you mean?' Theros asked gently.

'I know we've only been away a day or two but I just feel out of sorts, none of the sounds are familiar, I can't contact any of my girls, I just feel a bit isolated. Having to act as someone completely different.'

Theros placed his hand on hers, 'I know it's hard, but it's only for a few more days, besides this week should get more interesting when we meet Feron tomorrow, you won't have time to feel sick.'

'Thanks Rizz.'

'Any time Alex,' he still hadn't removed his hand but at the moment Alex didn't care.

Someone shoved past Shepard and ran off down the path, Alex suddenly noticed the absence, 'Rizz that arsehole just snatched my purse!' She went to chase him.

'Don't bother it's just a purse,' he held onto her hand.

'It's got my gun in it!' She whispered.

Realization dawned. And he shot upright.

'Oh shit.' He said.

'Oh shit indeed,' but she was already running.

The thief was far ahead but Shepard was fast, very fast, she closed ground between them quickly. Her previously injured knee protested but she ignored it and ran on. She could hear Theros beside her, he was breathing heavily, she had no doubt that if he was healthy he would have no trouble but the poisons were still in his system and still affected his breathing.

'Hey dick head stop!' She shouted swerving past a lamp post. Thankfully the streets where quite empty, and there were little obstructions. The thief swung around a corner and Shepard shortly followed, she longed to use her biotics but she couldn't, all Human Biotics were military trained, and that's apparently what she was supposed to be hiding.

She swore under her breath, unless she could catch him she was in trouble. There was a loud bang and the thief dropped to the floor clutching his leg. She glanced behind her where Theros stood with his pistol out, he was breathing erratically, but his arms where steady. She turned back to the Batarian who was moaning and quickly strode toward him.

'He... he... shot me..' he groaned.

'Yes he fucking well did,' she bent down and picked up her purse from the Batarian's limp fingers. 'It's my favourite bag.' She gave him a kick in the ribs, 'wanker.' Leaving the thief to his pain, she walked back to Theros who had sheathed his pistol and was trying to control his breathing.

'Are you ok Rizz?' Concern entered her voice, he didn't look good.

'I..I...-cough- I'll be … fine..Alex' She pulled his arm over her shoulder and let him put most of his weight on her.

'Come on we'll get a taxi back to the hotel,' she brought up her omni-tool. He nodded, 'then we are going to have a drink, this day has been a weird one.'

'Purpley and blue …. tubey kind... of weird?' Theros muttered.

'Definitely.'

'Then a... drink... sounds good.'

'Thought you would agree.'

**A long one today sorry about that lol, hope you all like, lemme know please drop a review! Xx **


	21. Oczko

This chapter is dedicated to Curls101, I hoping that Curls will like this one it's something that keeps cropping up in the lovely reviews Curls leaves, this chapter isn't for the faint hearted, and if you think Shep should be all prim and proper this chapter isn't for you.

Chapter 21 - 'oczko'

'You sure you're ok?' Theros was leaning back in the cab breathing steadily but heavily, he nodded and closed his eyes.

A few moments later and the taxi pulled up at the front of the hotel, Shepard paid and helped him out of the car, he walked a bit stronger and he was able to stand up straighter than before. She draped his arm over her shoulders and threaded her fingers through his, she ignored his faint tugging as he tried to free his hand from hers.

'Oh stop it, I'm your wife remember?' She smirked as he rolled his eyes.

'I can walk, I'm not an invalid,' he muttered.

'I'm not saying you are, so shut up.'

The walked through the lobby, the receptionist quickly walked over.

'Is everything ok Mrs Ris'ono?' She looked genuinely concerned. Shepard took pity and tried her best comforting voice.

'Yes thank you honey, he just forgets to take his medication sometimes, it's makes just makes him a little weak, but we're going up to the room to correct that, aren't we darling?' She smiled.

'Yes dear,' he sighed.

'Well if you're sure,' she nodded and walked back to her desk.

They entered the elevator, and quickly travelled up to their room, Alex made him sit on the sofa while she got a glass of water for him.

'Stop it Alex I'm fine, honestly.' He waved her away.

'I'm allowed to be worried,' she perched next to him, 'it's partly my fault after all.'

'Enough Alex,' he got up and rummaged around in one his bags for his pills, after locating them he shook out two and swallowed them with a gulp of water. 'You blame yourself too much,' he sat back in his seat, she looked at him with concern etched on her features. He decided to run a finger down the side of her cheek.

She stilled, closed her eyes and didn't breathe, Theros could feel the very slight scarring from her rebuild from Cerberus he traced the scar around her skin, he wanted to slide his fingers through her hair and pull her close.

He didn't think about the repercussions, he did as he wanted and pulled her close to him, she resisted for a moment before allowing him to bring her closer, he was going to kiss her but at the last moment he simply pressed his mandible against her soft skin, he so desperately wanted to taste her mouth on his but something stopped him, deep down he knew he was being a coward, perhaps he just needed time, or another situation like the one in the lift, than he would have no trouble at all.

He sighed, and spoke gently 'Alex...' she ''mmmed'' a reply.

'I would really like to have that drink now.'

She pulled away with a giggle, 'yeah me too.'

He stood holding her hand in his, Shepard grinned and followed him out the door.

…...

Liara peered at her monitors, Theros' heart rate had spiked, so had Shepard's, for about four minutes their hearts spiked faster and faster, Liara thought the worst until her another monitor registered that Theros' weapon had been discharged. So they weren't doing uh, couply things, Liara blushed, she knew Shepard wasn't a military bicycle but she was in a confused place. It was easy to try and make yourself feel better, Goddess knows Liara had done it herself a few times, clearly though something had gone wrong. There was no reason why Theros should be firing his weapon, not yet anyway. She tried calling the room, no answer. So she tried Shepard's omni-tool instead.

Luckily she had sent Garrus to get some sleep, if he had seen that no doubt there would be a big problem, she had promised to let him know if anything happened, but at this moment she thought it best to sweep what happened under the rug, as soon as she found out what had gone on.

…...

Shepard and Theros sat comfortably in one of the hotel's sofas, they had ordered their drinks and were chatting about non-important things.

Shepard's omni-tool began to bleep, she had a call coming through, she raised a brow, this wasn't the time they agreed. She looked at the caller ID: Lana.

'Is it him?' Theros asked icily.

'No, it's _Lana. _Probably just checking in.' _(so what if it was Theros, bit jealous are we?)_

She accepted the call and Lana's face popped up on the screen. She smiled and looked around quickly.

'Hello Sir, Madam, how is your day going?'

Alex smiled back, 'hi Lana, it's going well, we went to that park, got some lovely photos, Theros will send them to you if you like, also I got some new shoes, some which I can bloody well walk in.'

She rolled her eyes 'the photos sound good I wouldn't mind, also anything else interesting happen today? Go to a shooting range or anything like that?' Her voice was gentle but the look in her eyes was feral almost, Alex winced, no doubt she would have sensors on their firearms, and would have registered Theros' shot.

'We got mugged.' Theros explained, 'we got Alex's purse back so no harm.'

'Oh good,' Lana replied she replied sarcastically, 'nothing major then.'

Their conversation was interrupted when the drinks arrived, a large glass of wine for each. Shepard took a small sip, a very cheeky number indeed, Theros had good taste in wine.

'Drinking Ma'am? So early?' Lana inquired.

'I was mugged! I damn well deserve a drink!' Alex pouted.

'Just take it easy ok? That's to both of you.' Lana advised.

'Yes thank you Lana, talk to you later,' Shepard closed the link, that was Liara all over, god forbid she have any fun. Alex's psyche was surrounded in booze and chocolates, she cackled drunkenly.

…...

The link closed, and Liara sighed, Shepard and booze did not mix. Liara was worried, very worried. Hopefully nothing would happen, she had promised to talk to Garrus tonight. Liara buried her head in her hands, Alex was for the lack of a better word 'fucked,' maybe she should make something up to prevent Garrus being able to talk to her. That would be for the best. Probably.

…...

A couple of hours later and Theros and Alex were back in the hotel room, playing cards. A few empty bottles surrounded them, they had to return because the poor waiter was getting harassed for more wine as the evening went on. They solved this by ordering a couple bottles of each off the wine list and stumbling into the lift. Not much happened apart from every time someone looked at them Alex would smile sweetly and when their back was turned she would make obscene gestures. Theros tried to stop her but he was too busy trying to stifle his own laughter. When they finally got to their own room neither of them could breathe and were both giggling uncontrollably.

Shepard went to get changed and their wine arrived by room service. She emerged in a what Liara considered pyjamas, a silk strap top and itsy-bitsy shorts. Alex's psyche looked in the mirror and approved the sight, her long legs, slim stomach, delicate waist and ample bust. Very nice. She then grabbed a bottle and drank from it.

Clearly Shepard's psyche was going to be of no help tonight. After another glass or two Shepard got bored and looked for entertainment in what was a pack of cards, after a quick explanation of the rules, of what she could remember anyway they began to play.

'That's 16, are you gonna draw Rizz? Go on I dare ya!' Alex giggled.

They sat on the floor covered in the sofa's cushions. The bottles of wine had been divided between them and were being used to gamble with.

'I need 21 right? That's all?' He placed a bottle in the middle 'I wager the, the, this one!'

Alex laughed loudly, 'you're drunk!' She cackled.

He puffed up his chest, 'I am not! How, how, how dare you,' he said indignantly. His mandibles flared.

She snorted brushing back her hair, 'yeah right, well General Ris'ono, I raise you this, one.' She held up the bottle peered at the label, deciding she couldn't read it she repeated herself, 'yes this one!'

He glanced at the bottle, 'that's your favourite Alex, y'sure?'

She nodded and drank from her glass. He dramatically took another card from the pile and placed it next to his cards.

A five. He won.

'Nooooooo, you cheated!' Alex threw a cushion at him.

He ducked and threw one back 'no I didn't I'm just that good!' He picked up his prize, 'it looks tasty.'

Shepard threw herself over the gap trying to recover her lost good, 'it's my favourite one...' she wailed. She landed roughly on top of him the cards scattering underneath her legs. He held the bottle over his head. She vainly attempted to grab it. 'Give it back! Give it'

He laughed, 'never I won it fair and square!'

She thumped his chest, 'gimme, gimme, gimme!' She whined, 'it's mine!'

He gently put the bottle down out of Alex's reach and rolled over her.

'You're very possessive aren't you Commander,' he whispered, staring deep into her eyes, he brushed her hair out of her face, his talons lingering on her skin.

Her legs were entwined with his, she could feel his chest against hers, He gripped her hands and pinned them above her head. She could smell the wine on their breath, the heady atmosphere, the warmth emanating from his body killed the chill that was wrapping around her bare shoulders and thighs.

Her heart fluttered in her chest with anticipation.

'You're not supposed to call me that General,' she whispered back.

He grinned, his mandibles flaring slightly, 'I'm not supposed to do a lot of things, but the things I'm not supposed to do are often the most fun,' the reluctance and cowardice had disappeared. He wanted this woman, wanted her touch, warmth, smell, taste, she teased his senses and now he wanted reality.

He dipped his head, wanting to claim her in the most basic way possible.

…...

Liara stared at the screen, 'no, no, no, no, no! Oh Goddess this can't be happening, oh no, I hope she's being mugged again!' She had been monitoring them for about half an hour now, their toxicity showed that they had a lot of alcohol in their system, a raising pulse, body temperature, it could only mean one thing.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!' She urgently clicked a few buttons. Tali's face appeared.

'Liara what's wrong?' Concern laced the Quarian's words.

'Has Garrus left yet?' She asked urgently.

Pulse levels raising.

'Yes about five minutes ago why? Is Shepard ok? Is something wrong?' Tali moved closer to the screen.

'Yes she's fine, kind of, oh shit, oh Goddess this is going to be bad.' Liara tried closing screens and monitors but in her panic nothing was working.

'Oh Keelah, you mean, oh no, I'll see if I can stop him,' Tali quickly shut the screen and left.

'Thank you Tali,' Liara glanced up at the computer. Pulse rising still. Very fast. She couldn't close the screens, it would close the link to their omni-tools otherwise. She would have to think of an excuse.

…...

Alex wrapped her legs around his hips, heat and passion flowed through her body, he sat upright their mouths still locked, he traced his talons up her back, she groaned in pleasure and kissed harder, placing his arms around her he stood and carried her to the bedroom.

…...

Liara's door opened. She bounced from her seat in front of the door, Garrus stood bewildered.

'Hey Liara, everything ok?' He went to walk into her office but she moved in his way.

'You can't talk to the Commander tonight, she's uh busy,' Liara blurted.

'Busy? What do you mean? We arranged this, that's not like her.' He didn't sound very happy.

'I know I'm sorry b-'

Tali opened a com-channel from her omni-tool, 'I'm sorry Liara I couldn't find him. You'll just have to stop him at the door. Sorry.' She closed the link.

'What? What does she mean 'stop him at the door' Liara what's going on?' He pushed past her gently and stared at the screens.

Liara buried her head in her hands again for the second time that day, she could hear Garrus' heavy breathing.

'It isn't what it looks like Garrus...' she started.

'Oh and what does it look like Liara?' His voice was low and deep. Anger pulsed from his body.

'All I know is that it looks bad, but they could be working out, lets not jump to conclusions.' She tried to place a hand in his shoulder but he shrugged her off.

'No.' He whispered.

'No Liara, they're not working out, I know they're not,' he stared at the screen watching her heart beat, he knew the feeling of her heart beating that fast, he had felt it himself when he held her in his arms, when they let their bodies do the talking.

Anger at Theros, anger at Alex, his whole frame shuddered with the intensity of it. Deep down he couldn't blame her, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

'I'll kill him,' he muttered. 'It's his fault. He knows what's going on between us and he still continued, even when I warned him off, still continued...'

Liara stood silent next to him, scared that if she said anything he would blow.

'For her sake I tried doing it the Human way, tried talking to him, but that failed. Next time it's the old school Turian way,' he growled.

'Next time?' Liara asked quietly. 'What's the Turian way?'

He turned swiftly, Liara took a step back, she could honestly say that she was scared, truly scared of the man in front of her.

'Next time I'll kill him.'

…...

Theros stumbled into the bedroom and they fell onto the bed, still kissing they fumbled with each other's clothing. Her pyjamas slid onto the floor, Theros' attention switched to her neck, he nuzzled and nipped the soft skin under her jaw. She moaned and arched under his touch.

'Wait... stop.'

**SOOOO whaddya think dundunduuuuuuun. Lemme know what you think, sorry it's a bit of a long one. LOL. Like I said not for the faint hearted, Please review but please no reviews of 'OMG she's such a whore etc.' thanks. xx**

**EDIT: LMAO as i posted this the song 'it's getting hot in here' started playing on the radio xxxx HAHHAHAHHAHA couldn't stop giggling.**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is for Spyke185, for making me laugh with the lovely review, and for your information I am a real tease ;D Hoping you all like this chapter, Vorbarra and I have had this planned for a long time. Also would like to say thank you to everyone who reviews, it makes us truly happy when we see other people enjoying our work x**

Chapter 22

Wh-What? What do you mean?'

'We shouldn't be doing this...'

'Why?'

'We're drunk, this isn't right.'

'So?'

Theros shook his head and covered her with the quilt. He was still woozy from the booze but his common sense (that had been kicking and screaming for the last half an hour) had finally kicked in. She looked upset, well who wouldn't be? Being rejected isn't a nice thing.

'So this isn't the right situation to be doing this in,' he motioned with his hand at their discarded clothing. His libido was sobbing with neglect but he pushed it aside.

'It's him isn't it.'

Reality of the situation had sobered them both up very quickly, she clutched her knees suddenly embarrassed of her nakedness.

'Kind of.'

Alex turned bitter, 'he ruins everything.'

Theros sighed, 'you don't mean that Alex. I know you don't.'

She shrugged in reply. Silent.

'Look I like you Alex, a lot. Which is why we can't go any further, not while this thing,' he sighed again, 'this thing between you and Garrus is solved.'

Alex had begun to get weepy, she felt hurt and rejected, and now suddenly very pissed off. That was the wine but she didn't care.

'Get the fuck out Theros.'

'What?'

'Get out! You're just like the fucking rest of them, running as soon as it gets fucking serious!' Bitter, resentful and angry she threw the pillow at him, clipping him across the forehead.

'Alex don't overreact, I'm being sensible, you know it makes sense, look if this thing gets sorted and you and him don't, well I'm happy to continue, but otherwise, I'm sorry I can't,' he put the pillow back on the bed, 'it's not that I don't want to,' he added quietly.

She had entered the stage of the angry drunk, and there was no turning back.

'Fucking whatever,' she muttered.

Theros rolled his eyes, he knew she didn't mean it and the alcohol took a heavy lead in her words but he didn't like being treated like he was the bad guy.

'Alex seriously, I-'

'I don't want to hear it Theros!' She cut in shoving him biotically.

'Stop it Alex,' he stood up.

She rose with him too angry to realise she was still nude, she pushed him toward the door.

'No, enough, I don't fucking care, I just want to get some fucking sleep,' she tore the translator that she wore behind her ear off and threw it into the living room.

'There! I don't want to hear a fucking word that's going to come out of your mouth!' She pushed him out protests unheard and slammed the door behind her. She knew everything he said was right, but that didn't stop it from hurting, the truth hurts an old friend once told her, the truth hurts, and it was up to her to decide whether it hurt more enough to deny or believe it.

She shook her suddenly bleary head, _I've done it again. This is getting ridiculous, why do I __keep acting like a fucking child, _She wasn't going to solve anything in this state, she made her way to the shower wobbling as she walked.

After a brief ten minutes in the hot water she made her mind up to apologise to Theros in the morning, she hoped he would look past her acting like a stupid teenager and they would be able to have a conversation, an adult one. Sighing she wrapped her hair in a towel and climbed into the bed clutching the other pillow for the company she wished she could have, although whose she didn't quite know.

…...

Sunlight slipped into the bedroom and straight into Alex's eyes, she tossed and turned in discomfort before reluctantly sitting up.

And suddenly wishing she hadn't, pain like a jack knife shoved into her temple. She was hanging . Badly.

'Oh god why...' she knew it was going to happen, but it didn't stop her wishing it hadn't.

She could hear the radio or TV playing but she couldn't understand a word of it. Slowly her memories returned and she began to feel very guilty, she had to apologise to Theros, sooner rather than later. It was silly to throw her translator away, but maybe it would help, she wouldn't be able to understand him, and that would make apologising so much easier.

She got dressed quickly, the pain intensified when she bent down earning a curse for every time she did. Dressed in plain clothing, she shyly opened the door to the living room. Theros was standing in the kitchen getting a glass of water, in his hand he held a couple of pain killers, when he saw her enter he held them out for her to take.

She said thanks and swallowed them quickly. He didn't say anything but nodded and sat in an armchair, he had tidied the mess that they had made last night and she was glad for that, having it stare her in the face would have made her feel soooo much worse. She perched on the edge of the sofa opposite him.

'I wanted to say this before I find my translator do that I can't understand your words afterwords, pathetic I know, but you know me well enough that I'm not the most selfless person so ner,' his mandibles flared in amusement but he let her continue.

'I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the way I acted last night, it was very childish and silly, I was just too drunk and I took it a little more personally than I should have. I know you were only doing the right thing and I wanted to thank you for that, as you can tell even though I'm supposed to be this amazing Spectre Commander, I have no common sense and I'm not very mature. So uh, thank you. Please forgive me.'

She wanted to hang her head in shame, but if she did that she wouldn't be able to see his reactions. Surprisingly he did nothing but smile, his mandibles still fluttering in amusement.

'Is this a bad time to tell you I speak English?'

Shepard sat shocked, his voice was so much deeper and there was a lot more flanging to his voice; his words were still understandable though and the impact hit her like a physical blow. _He speaks English!? What the fuck! Oh god. Of course he does, is there anything this man can't do?_

'A surprise I know, but you're worrying too much, everything between us is fine, I was half expecting your reaction so it's cool.'

'It's not cool though,' she whined, 'I acted like a twat Theros.'

'Yeah I'm not gonna deny that but it can't be helped, we're still friends aren't we?' His voice had a tinge of worry to it.

'What? Yeah of course, that's more than I was expecting.'

'Then we're fine. I found your translator, it's on the side, as much as I would like to continue this chat talking in English for a long time makes my head hurt, more so than it already does.'

She grinned and collected it, clipping it on as she turned. Theros had stood with her and as she twisted he wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug.

'Are we ok Alex?'

She thought of how different this morning turned out to be and how she should be begging for his forgiveness, but he was there offering her to take it.

'Oh Theros, yes, yes we're fine, thank you,' she returned his hug.

'The sooner you sort this stuff out with him the better,' he muttered.

'Why?'

Theros rolled his eyes, sometimes Alex could be so blonde.

'Oh' she said the light bulb audibly clicked in her head. She blushed and wandered behind the counter.

'Well, uh, would you like breakfast before we see Feron?'

Breakfast cooked by Alex? This should be interesting.

'Yeah why the hell not, it's not like you'll kill me on purpose.'

He ducked laughing as a kitchen utensil was thrown in his direction.

_At least it wasn't a very sharp one_ Theros reflected, still laughing.

**I know not a very interesting chapter but it was floating around and had to be written, sorry about the weird update time I couldn't sleep and decided to write it, not that I have to be up to go to work in like 5 hours, naaa, that can wait it seems. Please review no doubt you've all got comments about what happened between Theros and Shepard. Be nice people. Please? Love all xx**


	23. Chapter 23

**This is for nicky sykes 2 for the 100th review! WOW Gotta admit I'm a little team Rizz as well.**

**Oh and this may change some people's opinion on Theros. We dive into his thoughts a little. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 23

He settled on the sofa watching Alex busy herself in the kitchen, like all high class hotels there are basic food provisions available for moments like this. She began to hum absorbed in her task.

He picked up the data pad he had been reading before she came in, when he was sure that Alex was ignoring him completely he let his mind drift over the night before. He felt pretty sour about what happened. In truth he didn't care about anything that was going on between Garrus and Shepard, but they were both really drunk, he didn't want their first time to be thought of as a drunken mistake, but his experience with women told him that they didn't care if they are drunk so you have to bring a more logical reason into the mix. Unfortunately that was Garrus.

The thought of Garrus made him involuntarily grind his teeth. He didn't believe that anything had happened between them, it was probably all just implied. It was obvious that Shepard cared about him, but she cared deeply for all her crew.

Garrus was a fool, a dangerous fool at that, Theros knew from serving with him how volatile he could be. How reckless and single-minded he was, and then there was that whole mess he created on Omega, how noble of him to think that he could solve all the stations problems by creating another gang. He wasn't made for command, it was evidential, his whole group got slaughtered. It was that stupid retrieval mission all over again, he would never forgive him for what happened. Theros gave him some credit though, he flourished under correct command and Shepard seemed to have shaped him into a fine Turian soldier.

Theros shook his head sighing. He knew he was better than Garrus, it was fact. He was more mature, skilled and he understood Alex like Garrus clearly couldn't. In short Garrus was just another obstacle, ok that was his inner Turian baring his claws, but his instinct had a point. He fingered his dog tags and the ring of metal that sat in between. There was a wound deep on his heart, he hadn't known Alex long but she had already created a soothing balm, Theros wasn't about to let someone take her away. With Alex he knew that the wound would begin to heal, and who knows he might feel whole again.

Alex spun around the kitchen mixing things in bowls and cracking dextro eggs into others. She let her body do all the work and her mind buzzed with thoughts. A quick glance over at Theros showed that he was reading a something on a data pad. She was worried, Garrus hadn't called last night, that was a good thing but he wouldn't have known about anything that was happening so he should have tried. She would have to talk to Liara.

Her memories of last night were confused as well, she knew that it was Theros she was kissing but for some reason she kept thinking about the night that she and Garrus were together, maybe that was a sign, she liked Theros a lot, a stupid amount really, but, that was it, there was a 'but' in the sentence.

But it wasn't the same feeling she felt for Garrus.

_Is Theros the safer option, the one who I know wouldn't hurt me? Oh this is ridiculous!_ She slammed a knife down slicing a vegetable into two pieces, Theros raised a brow at her but she ignored him and attacked the poor food ruthlessly. _This is fucking stupid. Make your fucking mind up already. This is getting really fucking old, really fucking quickly. Garrus or Theros? It's not fair for me to have to choose. It's not fair on them that I'm choosing between them. I have had enough. Fuck this. I won't have either of them. There problem solved, actually no you know what? Fuck them, if either of them want me they'll let me know. They can fight it out between themselves, bollocks to them. _

She knew deep down the problem was far from solved but she concentrated on breakfast. After handing Theros his she wandered into the bedroom with hers, she wanted to talk to Liara. Badly.

Theros understood, he always understands.

She put her breakfast on the bedside table and flopped onto the bed. She didn't want to video talk so she connected her earpiece and dialled Liara's temporary number.

_Ring ring ring ring. _

'Hello?' Liara answered promptly.

'Hey it's Alex,' she said quietly.

'Oh Alex,' the relief in Liara's voice was obvious. 'How are... things?'

Alex gave a half-hearted sigh, 'got a moment to talk?'

'Of course Alex, what's the matter.'

Alex felt the flood doors open, 'I kissed Theros...' she practically wailed down the phone. 'I don't know what to do, 'Angel' didn't call, I was drunk, we kissed and I'm just so fucked up.'

'Oh Alex calm down honey, first off you only kissed right?' She said quietly.

'Huh? Yeah why? Why do you sound like that? What's going on, oh fuck you don't have cameras in here do you? What the hell!' Alex begun to panic, she was going to tell Garrus but she didn't want to flaunt it in his face.

'Calm. Down. No there aren't any cameras. It's just that your omni-tools are taking some readings, y'know so I can keep an eye on the situation stuff like that.'

'What readings?'

'Small things really nothing to worry about..'

'What readings?'

'Minor concern, minuscule stuff..'

'What fucking readings!' Alex hissed.

Defeated Liara sighed, 'your blood pressure, toxicity and um heart rate.'

'Heart rate,' she repeated her voice devoid of any emotion.

'Yes...'

'Did 'Angel' perchance see-'

'Yes,' Liara interrupted her.

'Oh fuck.' Alex felt like crying, 'and uh, what happened?'

'He uh, was, uh angry, but I calmed him down, he's thinking a bit more sensibly now, I mean he can't be angry at you because you're not together, I mean yeah it hurts but there's nothing he can say. I mean... sorry I'm babbling,' Liara fell silent.

'Can I talk to him?'

'Are you sure you want to I can just take a message,' she offered.

'No I need to tell him what happened, he deserves more than that.'

'Very well Alex, give me a moment.'

Alex's heart was thumping, she felt so nervous she thought she was going to be sick. All she could hear was the static of the transfer line, she was angry at Liara for not telling her about the constant reading she was taking but she couldn't blame her for taking them.

The phone line clicked.

'H-Hello?'

'Hello Alex,' Garrus' flanging voice replied quietly.

She coughed, 'how are you?' Safe subject.

'I'm fine,' he sounded a little strained, maybe that wasn't such a safe subject after all.

'Do you need anything Alex?'

'I uh, missed your call last night...' she whispered. She ran her hand through her hair. No doubt that Liara could see how stressed she was. She could only hope that Garrus will understand.

'I didn't call,' he said bluntly.

'Oh uh, why?' Even though she knew the answer.

'You were busy.'

'I uh, I uh wanted to uh explain that,' she sighed.

'If you like,' he replied.

'Um, well she told me about the heart rate, and I wanted to explain what was going on.'

'I can guess honestly.'

'Y'oud be wrong,' Alex muttered.

His hesitation to answer made Alex a little hopeful, she dived straight in, head first.

'We got really drunk and ended up kissing,' she winced expecting to hear an outraged reply down the phone.

'Oh' he said.

'Oh? That's all you have to say is oh?' She was completely dumbfounded.

'What do you want me to say?' He sighed, 'well did you do anything else?'

'What? No! I just, I thought you should know. In case you got the wrong idea,' she muttered.

'Well I can't say I thought of the best situation.'

'Are you angry?'

'Honestly I was, but,' he sounded tired, 'I don't know any more.'

_Oh, well, where do I go from here? _Alex bit her lip and thought hard.

He spoke again, 'I'm tired of all this stepping around Alex. Look I wouldn't be angry for nothing. Clearly I care for you, I'm sorry for what I said in the Main Battery, I didn't mean it I was just angry. Think about it.'

The line went dead. Alex sat on her haunches, shocked.

Garrus said sorry. And he said that he cared, he didn't mean what he said in the Battery.

_Oh, ok, I didn't think he cared.  
He does care...  
I need to get back to the Normandy and talk to him.  
Like now._

**Right well, it's getting a bit long and it seemed a good place to halt, well a good place as any. Please drop a review, I know it's not a thrilling chapter, but it needs to be written. Be nice kitties. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry about the long wait, had a lot to do and so little time lol xx**

Chapter 24

Shepard rubbed her eyes with the balls of her fingers, she had a stress headache growing rapidly by the minute. Garrus took it well better than she thought at least. She sighed if someone ever wrote a story about her life in the last week they'd have a pretty thick book; the poor sods who were reading it would be screaming at the top of their lungs for her to make a 'fucking decision already!'

She sighed, got dressed and went into the living room. Theros raised an eyebrow when she walked in bit flustered but she didn't want to talk about it, and told him that right off the bat. He looked annoyed but didn't press her. They collected the bits they would need, she checked her pistol was in her bag one last time and they left their room.

They both sat in the café sipping coffees, they had chosen a table next to the window but in the far corner. It was a busy time for the little shop with customers arriving every minute. They sat in silence, Alex was staring out the window. Clearly something was on her mind, Theros left her alone.

His omni-tool vibrated, he looked down intrigued at who it could be.

**1 new message open? **

**Click.**

**Message from unknown source. Time unknown. **

**Look, we have our differences but you**

**better make sure she's safe. She has an Angel **

**watching her, if anything was to happen **

**he will want revenge. **

Theros rolled his eyes. Typical Garrus, ok he got that the message didn't want to jeopardise the mission, but really? An Angel? He knew he shouldn't rise to the bait but he typed a reply. 

**Message to unknown source, time unknown. **

**Very bravado. What makes you think**

**she isn't safe with me? **

**No matter our business contact is here.**

He clicked send as Feron walked in the door. He nudged Alex out of her reverie, she stood excitedly and embraced the Drell in a tight hug.

'Hello! Oh god, it's so good to see you! How have you been?' She gushed.

Theros shook his hand when she eventually let him go. He smiled warmly and they all sat around the table, they talked about the weather and other inconsequential things. Slowly the conversation turned to business.

… … … …

'GARRUS!' Liara yelled. 'Come on move!' She shoved him hard, moments after he hung up on Alex. Ok probably not the most mature move but he couldn't bare hearing her reaction. He just hoped that it was enough.

'Liara relax this is too much,' Tali muttered being towed along by her hand. Garrus shrugged as he followed.

'No it's not, Feron and Alex will meet in about an hour, which means we have only half an hour to get there, luckily I made the Normandy pass into orbit three hours ago. This is one of the most vital points of the mission, it's critical we be on standby in case anything happens.' She tugged on Tali's hand, she led them both the elevator, where she continued to pace while it went down.

'Not that I mind Liara, but you are being a little paranoid than usual,' Garrus said gently.

'I can't help it,' she practically wailed wringing her hands, 'I keep thinking some thing's going to go wrong so it's best if we're close, just in case.'

'Better safe than sorry Garrus, that's what Shepard says,' Tali chipped in.

He shrugged again, defeated. He didn't mind, not at all, but he was worried that if something did go wrong that even though they would be less than minutes away would it be enough?

… … … …

'So how are things in the business?' Theros asked.

'Good, I managed to get some promising information, I just need an opening now, something needs to divert their attention from the cattle market and that's when I'll strike,' Feron said conversationally, he glanced out the window looking at Cerberus' building.

Alex let the two men talk about the mission, when she tried it just sounded so put on and fake, at least they made it sound like they were actually talking about a company. So Feron needed a distraction, well she had no idea what on earth she would do for a diversion but the boys were soon to figure out something.

She sipped her coffee, looking at the building, there weren't a lot of people on the street today and the café had calmed in the time they had been talking. Her mind was horribly pounding, a child was crying somewhere in the shop. She poured more sugar into her cup hoping it would diffuse the throb.

Feron coughed, 'excuse me, do you mind if I go get a drink? There's a bit of a queue but I shouldn't be long.'

'Of course not, how rude of me, we should have brought you something when we ordered,' Alex apologised.

'Do not worry Alex, it's fine,' Feron nodded and disappeared into the throng of people.

She returned to the window, this meeting was going better than she expected. She was so nervous seeing as they were undercover but nothing had happened. No-one had leapt to their feet accusing them and pointing fingers.

Theros felt his omni-tool vibrate again.

**Message from unknown source, time unknown. **

**I'm just saying keep an eye on her. **

Theros smirked.

**Message to unknown source, time unknown.**

**Oh I will trust me. **

Seconds later the reply came through.

**Message from unknown source, time unknown. **

**Don't try me Ris'ono. **

Theros bared his teeth, _this'll shut him up, _he thought. Browsing through his camera photos he found the one from the park.

**Attach picture? **

**1 File, 104mb attached. **

**Message to unknown source.**

**Doesn't she look happy and stress free?**

**It's amazing what the right company will do.**

He could imagine Garrus' reaction. It wasn't the smartest idea to wind him up but he couldn't resist. A reply came through.

**File attached to message, open? **

**Opening file. **

Theros nearly choked on his coffee, Garrus had sent him a picture of Alex, she was wrapped in her quilt, she was quite clearly naked and this was the aftermath of a pleasured evening, the blanket covered her breasts and her navel but her long legs and slender arms were uncovered. He noticed her hair was shorter and back to it's deep red. She looked content and happy, totally unaware that she had been photographed.

Garrus' message read underneath.

**Yeah I know. **

… … … …

Garrus sat in the shuttle staring at the photo that Theros had sent him. Alex truly did look happy, he was jealous to say the least, and maybe he shouldn't have retaliated by sending him that picture and he knew he was going to regret it. Painfully if Alex found out. She knew Garrus had the picture, but she wasn't going to be happy if she found out he had sent it to Ris'ono.

… … … …

'Alex..' Theros began.

'Hmmm?'

'Did you sleep with uh, your Turian friend?' He inquired, had had to know for sure.

'What the fuck Rizz? What kind of a question to ask is that,' she said snarkily. 'Which friend?' puzzlement crossed her face.

'So there's more than one?' He joked trying to lighten the mood.

She sighed, it was bound to come out sooner than later, 'if it's the friend I think you're talking about then yes, yes I did, it was, well we were there for each other, in a time when we didn't know whether we were going to come back,' she explained quietly.

The sounds filtering in from the window dwindled.

'So we're both experienced with each other's species, good it should be fun,' he quipped.

'What the fuck are you on about Theros!?' She snapped.

He begun to explain but she held up her hand, 'wait, wait some thing's not right, where's Feron?'

They looked around, failing to see him. The birds outside stopped singing.

'It's too quiet..' she muttered.

When Alex thought back on what happened the most noticeable thing was the lack of sound, all she could remember is the glass flying past her head and everything moving as if slowed, then the sound came back in full force.

Boom.

… … … …

**Dundunduuuuunn. I know its a bit of a crappy chapter but I hoped you all liked, the next chapter should prove to be a dramatic one! Please leave a review xx**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks for all the positive reviews! I love you all so much! Love Vorbarra more though, without her none of this would be possible! Well here goes nothing, sorry about the late update, both Vorbarra and I have been quite ill ¬¬. **

Chapter 25

The air was hot and acrid, she felt across the debris of their table for her purse and her gun. Theros pushed what was left of the table upright into a temporary barrier. Families were screaming and she had a sharp ringing in her ears from the explosion. An ache in her head began to throb, it must have been where she was thrown back with the impact; Theros had a large gash across his shoulder from a rogue glass shard that had flown past violently.

Troops began to climb over the window wall and let loose rounds. She didn't have time to think, she had to save the children. She loaded her pistol and pulled off a couple of shots, they hit one of the men in the chest and face killing him instantly. Theros covered her as she rose out from the safety of the table.

'Where's Feron?!' She shouted over the din.

'Couldn't say!' Theros replied, he kicked a soldier as he tried to pass their barricade, the man hit the floor and Theros shot him in the head.

She swore loudly. Luckily as they had begun to propose to be a threat, Cerberus were ignoring the frantic women and men trying to shelter themselves and their loved ones. A few had been hurt but not mortally so.

She used the rest of her clip and then threw the gun to the side. Alex shut her eyes and concentrated, biotically some of the men were forcefully hauled into the air, after what seemed an age they were then thrown into the floor with a bone snapping crunch.

'Alex we have to move there's too many of them!' Theros began to drag her, he handed her his pistol and grabbed a discarded rifle from a corpse.

'What the fuck are we going to do,' she replied, she was painfully aware that with no armour or high level shields that her usual tactic of running in all guns blazing was blown out the water.

'Survive.'

They ran toward the counter, Alex used her biotics to lift the coffee machine and throw it at a soldier that was trying to follow them. Theros lent over the side with the rifle and began to shoot. She could hear chatter in her ear but there was too much noise to hear what was trying to be said.

She yelled and emptied her pistol clip.

… … …

'We need to get to the surface now!' Liara screamed. 'Shepard! Shepard can you hear me?' She slammed her fist against the metal, 'damn it! Their comms are fried, she can't hear us.'

'How long?' Garrus asked, he was perched on the edge of his seat, his finger was twitching against the trigger of his assault rifle.

Liara listened to her earpiece, 'Three minutes until we're in the hotspot, at the moment there's just ground troops but they have no armour or real weapons unless they manage to kill a few of them.'

'It's Shepard, I wouldn't be surprised if we get down there and she's got them all,' Tali joked trying to liven the atmosphere.

Garrus could feel himself beginning to panic, Liara was as well, the thought that kept treacherously running through his head was _what if they were too late? _

… … … … … …

'FUCK OFF!' Shepard screamed throwing her empty gun at one of them. 'Theros! Time is seriously running out here, any bright ideas?!'

'Honestly? Not a fucking clue!' He smirked back.

'Then what fucking good are you!'

'Not a bloody lot.'

Theros butted one with his elbow, snatching the assault rifle from his fingers he threw it to Alex who caught it and let off a few rounds into his head, Theros grabbed the rest of the Cerberus troop's ammo and reloaded his gun.

A roaring noise cancelled out the commotion, a shuttle was landing in the street. Shepard recognized the insignia on the brow on the shuttle and she whooped with joy.

'Oh yeah! We're going to kick you're fucking arses! Pick on one of us, pick on all of us!' She hollered.

Theros laughed next to her.

Three figures jumped out the shuttle and the chaos returned, the air was filled with biotic discharge and people still screaming.

The troops began to split, sensing that they were being attacked from the front and the back, one of them chucked a grenade over to where Alex and Theros were crouched, they looked at each other before hastily moving over the counter into the line of fire.

'Shepard!' Liara yelled, 'are you ok?'

'I'm fine, just save me!'

Shepard could see Tali overloading someone's shields and then dropping them with a shotgun round to the torso. There was someone else behind her but she couldn't see through the fire and smoke.

Part of the wall began to fall and the family that was sheltering underneath it, screamed in terror and ran out the way, Alex heard the mother protesting, she whipped round and a little Asari girl had fallen and couldn't get up. Alex cursed under her breath and ran for her, Theros saw what happened and was giving her covering fire. She used her biotics to keep the wall upright while she pulled the girl out of the rubble that was trapping her.

She held her close as she ran toward shelter, as she ran she felt a sharp stinging pain rip through her clothing just above her kidney. She stumble but managed to keep upright. Reaching the shelter she handed over the young one to her mother who was in hysterics.

As she peered around the corner she realised who the third person was, Garrus.

She felt her heart skip a beat and her breath catch in her throat. He spun around killing an enemy instantly, he was slowly working his way toward her.

She tried to stand but the bullet had caused a lot of damage, with no medi-gel dispensers that she would usually have in her suit she had to deal with the full force of the injury. She adjusted her clothing so that the wound wouldn't show, and shakily got to her feet.

She lent on the counter, Liara had just killed the last trooper and they were making their way over to were she stood.

'Oh Alex, I'm so sorry-' Liara began, but she interrupted her.

'It's fine where's Feron?'

'I don't know, but we'll find him, he knows what he's doing, he'll be fine,' she said trying to reassure herself. Their conversation was stopped entirely by Garrus marching over to Theros, Tali placed herself in the way her hand resting on Garrus' chest plate.

'That's your idea of keeping her safe Ris'ono?!' He shouted.

'Shove it Vakarian! I did nothing wrong!'

'Like hell you did!' He replied pointing a talon at him.

As happy as Alex was to see Garrus she wasn't in the mood for this. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed her and she felt her legs buckle slightly. Their bickering wasn't helping.

She stepped unsteadily in between them.

'E...enough..' she said quietly.

They both silenced; she nodded satisfied.

There was a lot of mess but no civilians were hurt and all bad guys were dead. Sorted.

The agony in her ribs intensified, she bent over a bit when a flash of pain ripped through her. Both of them looked at her with concern, she was holding her arm over her wound trying to stop the bleeding but she could feel the blood on the inside of her elbow.

'Shepard... what's the matter?' Liara asked coming closer.

Shepard slid her other hand over the wound and she felt the warmth of her blood. Her fingers came away stained a startling red.

'Oh, oh fuck' she said weakly staring at the sight.

Darkness swamped her as she fell sideways, she could hear people urgently talking. She felt someone grip her around her waist careful of her wound, she could smell armour polish and heat clips.

'Garrus.' She barely whispered, opening her eyes slightly. He faded into view.

'Alex.. Alex!'

**Sooo... yeah. Please leave a review! You're all so good at doing so! xx**


	26. Chapter 26

**Ok well I have recovered from my illness yay! On a sad note I haven't heard from Vorbarra in about two weeks, I didn't really want to continue without her but it has been so long since I updated. Thank you for your patience, hopefully she will get in contact with me soon. Oh and thank you for your lovely reviews. **

Chapter 26.

'Stay with me Alex, come on,' she could hear people talking to her, the sky was moving fast, too fast she couldn't make out what was happening, she felt herself being lifted into the shuttle that was waiting, she felt so weak, she heard Liara shouting for medi-gel but it seemed that they didn't have any.

She lost consciousness.

'Is she awake?' Liara asked panicky. She was rubbing her hands, she still hadn't heard from Feron, now Shepard had collapsed from being shot, Garrus had carried her back to the shuttle after a little scuffle with Theros. It seemed both of them were too worried to be concerned with each other. Theros shook his head in reply, Liara swore under her breath and thumped the shuttle.

'How long till we get to the Normandy?' Tali asked.

'Ten minutes, keep the pressure on the wound, she'll make it,' Liara told Garrus.

'I know,' he muttered, 'it'll take a lot more than that to take her from me..' he said to himself.

He brushed her hair out of her eyes, her eyelids fluttered as if she was having a bad dream. He sighed and increased the pressure on her wound, trust Shepard to hide an injury.

… … …

Beep .. Beep .. Beep .. Beep ..

'Will she be ok?'

'Yes it missed her kidney, clean shot, her lack of consciousness was due to blood pressure. She's lost a fair amount of blood so she'll be weak for a while but she will make a full recovery.' Dr Chakwas sighed, and removed her medical latex gloves. She glanced around the room, Mordin was analysing Shepard's blood sample for infections, Garrus was leaning against a spare bed, Liara and Theros were talking in low voices.

Beep .. Beep .. Beep .. Beep ..

'How long till she's awake?' Garrus asked running his talons over his fringe.

'A few hours, I've given her a sedative, it's best if her blood pressure doesn't spike or anything,' she said in a good natured way, smiling.

Garrus' mandibles flared with amusement. But concern rode heavily in his voice and features, he looked at Alex with extreme discomfort, she was attached to an IV and had an oxygen mask, she was paler than usual, but at least her heart beat was steady.

Beep .. Beep .. Beep .. Beep ..

'Well at least the worst is over,' Liara rubbed her eyes.

'Yeah no thanks to Ris'ono,' muttered Garrus.

'Enough Vakarian! I told you that I did nothing wrong, only you insist that I did!' Theros walked towards him his mandibles clicking in anger.

'I told you to keep her safe!' He retorted. 'You think you're better than me but you can't even protect her from harm!'

Theros waved his hand in a dismissing action, 'it's like talking to a child! This is that bloody reconnaissance mission all over again! We got what we needed, yes Alex got hurt but that was no fault of mine,' he argued.

'You don't get to call her that, it's Commander or Shepard,' Garrus said threateningly. Hearing him use her first name so casually scraped down a nerve Garrus didn't know existed. She let him use her name after they spent the night together in Ilos, it meant a lot to him.

'Whatever Vakarian,' he shrugged.

'Guys stop it, this isn't helping,' Liara said calmly.

'Like he helped? Was it so vital that he go with her because it seems to me she would have been better on her own!' Garrus was angry and he couldn't control himself, he could smell Ris'ono all over Shepard and it was sending his instincts wild. He was having trouble stopping his fingers twitching.

'Face Vakarian you're just not up to the mark, you're too immature, I mean look at you, no wonder Alex mov-'

He didn't get to finish his sentence, Garrus threw himself at the other Turian landing a harsh punch on his mandible. Theros swore in rage as he recoiled and returned a blow. Garrus was thrown back into some medical equipment, he could hear all of them shouting at him but all he wanted to do was beat the shit out of Theros and wipe the smug grin off his face.

Theros used his weight to pin him against the now broken machinery, he nutted him once, twice, the pain ricocheted through Garrus head, he managed to lift his legs and hook them under Theros' torso, using the equipment as leverage he shoved him away. They faced each other snarling. All sanity had gone, their eyes were glassy and glittered. They were both running on instinct, fighting over a female.

May the best male win.

Garrus felt one of Liara's biotic fields but using brute strength he pushed past it, charging at Theros they locked bodies, both wrestling for the upper hand. He felt Ris'ono's talons scrape down the side of his wrist trying to get a grip. He growled his flanging voice reverberating deep inside his chest.

Dr. Chakwas was shouting at Mordin, they were trying to load some sedatives and put them both out, Theros spun Garrus and he smashed into the heart monitor next to Alex, Dr. Chakwas shielded her patient's body with her own, glass littered her coat but it didn't do any damage.

Liara tried to get in between them only to be thrown to the side, they broke apart, snarling and growling. Theros wiped blood out of his eyes, Garrus could feel a tooth that had come loose. Their growling deepened and they grappled again. This time one of Liara's force fields sent them falling to the side.

A few people were eating in the canteen when two enraged Turians fell through one of the medical bay windows. They fell to the floor and continued on as if nothing had happened. Theros straddled Garrus and rained blows onto his face and chest, after a few blows Garrus bucked and reversed the position.

Theros locked his legs around Garrus' waist and pulled him off.

'This is fucking ridiculous they'll end up killing each other!' Dr. Chakwas swore.

'Very interesting, in the modern society dominating displays not often seen. Fascinating.' Mordin opened his omni-tool and began to record, 'no doubt will end soon, hormones run low, adrenaline takes it's toll, then the winner victorious!'

Liara rolled her eyes and called EDI.

'Is Wrex still on board EDI?'

'Yes Liara, is this about the fight in the canteen? Would you like me to send him down?'

'Please EDI! With haste,' Liara said wincing as Theros landed a particularly nasty blow. They had picked up Wrex earlier, for Mordin had completed his genophage cure, she hoped that he would be able to split them up without killing either.

Wrex strolled out of the elevator a moment later and absorbed the scenario. Liara shouted at him to pull them apart. He nodded and charged toward them. His shoulder hit Theros and pinned him against the wall. He held him there with his hand, Garrus flipped onto his feet and went for Theros again, Wrex grabbed him by the collar and nutted him.

Both of the Turians struggled for a moment before going limp. Liara sighed in relief. Dr. Chakwas stormed out of the Medi-bay.

'This is unacceptable! Both are you are confined to quarters, doctors orders! Neither of you are allowed near the medical bay!' She motioned for Wrex to let them go, Theros landed roughly on his feet, Garrus went to lunge at him but Wrex held him back. Theros nodded and angrily walked past Garrus, who spat out some blood as he walked past. The elevator dinged.

Everyone let out the breath they didn't realize they had been holding.

'Well that could of gone better,' Joker's voice rang out.

'Joker!' Liara scolded.

Garrus snarled angrily and moved Wrex's hand, after a longing look at the medi-bay; he could see Alex where they had broken the glass. He grunted and walked into the Main battery. Mordin was giddy with happiness, he was reviewing the footage he managed to catch.

Wrex rolled his shoulders, 'anything else? Not that I mind getting in a scrap with a couple of Turians,' he commented.

'No, thank you though, just don't leave the ship, we might need you again,' Liara sighed.

Beep .. Beep .. Beep .. Beep .. went the now broken heart monitor.

**Well that _could_ have gone better, but hey. I hoped you liked it, sorry about the lateness once more, please be kind and leave a review. xx **


	27. Chapter 27

**Again my apologies, that said here's another chapter, oh and thanks for your reviews, Spyke's made me laugh:**

Chapter 27

Garrus heard the door slide shut behind him, he could feel his skin buzzing, his muscles were in spasm as if he was being bitten by flies, it was going to take him a while to calm down. All that was going through his head was the beep of the heart monitor. He walked over to his console and brought up a mirror screen, luckily Theros hadn't done any serious damage, he was grazed down the side of his neck, but that would heal in time. He felt around his teeth with his tongue and managed to root out the loose tooth, he spat it into his hand, looking at it in disgust he threw it into the bin.

His fists ached, you needed a lot of force to bruise a Turian's skin and he wanted to scar the bastard. He wanted to run toward the medi-bay pull up a chair and ask for her forgiveness for being such an arse. He had made stupid mistakes, he knew that she probably felt the same. He wanted to get the air cleared and show her how he really felt, without Theros looming over her shoulder.

The door opened again, his blood began to pump harder, thinking it was him. Is wasn't, it was Tali. She tilted her head and looked at him.

'I heard and saw the last of what happened? Are you ok Garrus?'

He cleared his throat, 'yeah thanks Tali I'm fine.'

'It doesn't look like it,' she dragged a crate over and perched on the edge. He responded by leaning on his console rubbing the tear on his skin on the inside of his wrist.

'Yeah, well...' he left it at that.

'I've got to admit Garrus you were pretty, um, wild. It was actually very scary,' she picked some imaginary lint of her glove.

'We all go through it as teenagers, travel to Palaven on a club night you'll see it everywhere, although I suppose it's different when it's two grown adults,' he shrugged. He was embarrassed but only slightly. More embarrassed about the fact that he got nutted by Wrex, damn Krogan getting in the way. He clicked his mandibles in frustration.

'Yes it is,' she bobbed her leg up and down, a trait that she carried when she wanted to ask something but didn't know if it was the right thing to say. He knew her too well.

'Yes Tali?' His hormones and adrenaline had begun to calm and a dull throb had replaced the buzz in his head. He sank down onto the floor with a light groan, his muscles began to complain with the previous exertion.

'Why do you hate him so much?'

'Apart from the obvious?' He joked.

'Well yes, keelah Garrus I thought you were going to kill him!' She lent on her knees.

'I wanted to, still want to,' he added bitterly.

'But why?'

He sighed, this was going to be a long story. But maybe it was about time he told someone, why the hell not?

'Ok, well you better get comfy Tali, this is a long one.'

Tali loved stories, she pulled her legs up underneath her and rested her head in her hands, excitement practically rolled off her.

He breathed in deeply and began to speak.

'Well when I first joined the Military Ris'ono was five or so years ahead of me. I did my time and got moved up the ranks. We first met on a civilian frigate, transfer stuff, well he wasted no time making me aware that he was the dominant male, the alpha. As young as I was I obediently stepped in behind him. Follow me so far?'

Tali nodded enthusiastically.

'Right, so, we didn't get assigned to the same ship till a few years after that, it was about four years before I met Shepard, when I was in C-Sec, it was one of the reasons I left. Anyway; there was this female Turian, Eira her name was, beautiful, skilled, lovely woman.'

Garrus swore he could see Tali raise a brow, he chuckled and waved his hand, he was beginning to feel calmer now, maybe the talking was helping.

'Nothing like that Tali, she was older than me, besides she and Ris'ono where like brother and sister, she was a military prodigy. The perfect soldier, it had given her a lot of trouble seeing as she was female but she fought through the bias and had a promising career in front of her. We were assigned to the same ship and then something awful happened.'

Tali moved off the crate and sat opposite him with her legs crossed. He waited till she settled down and continued speaking. The words were coming easier now.

'Well one of our family ships got hijacked, just normal people moving home, going on holiday that sort of thing, the thing is this ship was being used as a cover for some important military documents, they were being moved to HQ, but someone had caught wind of it. A small team were to go in and extract the information at any cost. I was chosen as was Ris'ono and Eira, he was in command but we got on board without any hassle. Turns out it was a group of Krogans that still had a major grudge about the genophage, they wanted revenge. There were three floors, we started at the bottom and worked our way up, securing survivors and taking out the bad guys. We found the documents on the second floor... and that's when I lost all respect for him.'

'What? Why? What happened?' Tali was hanging on his every word, he didn't really want to say, Tali seemed to like Theros but it didn't seem fair to sway her, but he said he would explain so he dogged on.

'The Krogan warlord, a real nasty bastard, set off a bomb on the top floor, it took out half the main controls, the ship was slowly falling apart, we had already secured the other survivors, Ris'ono gave us the order to retreat. He wanted to leave seeing as we had the mission completed. I argued back, there were still civilians we could save. He had a point, the objective was complete, we were outnumbered three to one, and the ship would either explode or the life support crash in just over an hour. There were escape pods on the top floor. Naturally I refused. Said I would go myself. He said fine, if I wanted to throw my life away so be it. I left them.'

'So that's why? '

'Look I know it's not the most worst reason in the world but I had so much respect for him, I looked up to him, even became a sniper because of his skills, of course the military agreed with him, he took the correct procedure I was in the wrong,' Garrus stretched his legs groaning.

'But why does he hate you so much?'

'Well it didn't go too smoothly, Eira came with me, said she agreed. We scouted out the area, managed to take out most of them before they cornered us, I tell you Tali her skill was unmatched, they didn't stand a chance.' He sighed again, this was the difficult bit. 'We got stuck by this big, ugly son of a bitch, only had one eye. We had got all the civilians out in time, we were just trying to get to the last escape pod, we had already sent a family ahead, we had the launch code. Eira did something crazy.' He laughed with disbelief. 'She took him on head on, we had no ammo left but she just ran at him, managed to beat seven types of shit out of him as well, but she tripped and he hit her back. That's when I jumped in, landed the killing blow once I pried him off her, but she was almost dead, I lifted her up ran to the escape pod and off we went.'

He ran his talons over his fringe his mandibles flaring in sadness.

'She never walked again, he legs were shattered, she was given an honourable discharge, I was disciplined, but Ris'ono never forgave me for ruining her career and letting her get hurt. As far as I know they never saw each other again. I disobeyed him and she paid the price for it.'

'Keelah... Garrus I, are you ok?' Tali asked concerned. 'We all thought it was just a male thing because of Shepard,' she apologised.

'He did the right thing, so did I but neither of us suffered for it Eira did, my sister still keeps in contact with her, she married and had children, her husband said her accident was the best thing that happened to her, now she won't die alone on a battlefield somewhere, now she'll be surrounded by family and loved ones.'

'Thank you for telling me Garrus.'

He shrugged again, he did feel better, like a weight was lifted off his chest, a weight that he didn't know he had been carrying. They chatted for a while longer, Dr. Chakwas came in and checked him over declaring that unfortunately apart from a few mild abrasions he was in perfect health. She scolded him again and let them be. Half an hour later Tali left him to his thoughts.

He decided to sleep in there that night, he pulled out the rough cot that he had made for occasions like this, he laid down feeling the relief, he couldn't stop thinking about Shepard, he wanted to see her desperately surely she would be awake by now. Surely.

**Ok I know it wasn't the most thrilling of chapters and sorry for the long speeches but I wanted to give a bit of background on why they hate each other so much. But hey. Lemme know what you think xx Next chapter is when the ball gets rolling again lol xx**


	28. Chapter 28

**Okie here's another one.**

Garrus couldn't sleep as much as he tried his mind rebelled, he submitted to his thoughts and called the Medi-bay on his omni-tool.

'Yes Garrus?' Dr. Chakwas answered.

'Hey, doc. I was wondering if I could see the Commander,' he asked. He knew that she would say no but he had to try. He had even decided that as soon as she retired to go to bed he would go see her anyway, no harm in trying the polite route first.

'Hmmm,' she pursed her lips and looked at him closely. 'Have you slept yet Garrus?'

'No I can't drop off, too many things on my mind.'

'Very well, come to the Medi-bay and I'll prescribe you something, I don't normally but seeing as it's been one of those days I think I'll be taking one myself,' she signed off.

Garrus lay there stunned, she just said yes, he rolled of his bed and got dressed in a pair of civvies. Walking into the canteen the staff that were still on duty nodded as he passed. No doubt a few of them were now a little xenophobic, he didn't blame them, watching two adult Turians beat the living crap out of each other was enough to put anyone off. His jaw still ached where he lost a tooth.

The medical bays doors opened and he stepped inside suddenly unsure of what to do. Dr. Chakwas stood up and greeted him.

'Feeling sore Garrus?' She asked jokingly.

'Na more like a summer breeze,' he replied.

She nodded and motioned to a spare bed. He tried not to look over at Shepard but he failed, he sat down so that he could see her reflection in one of the medical cabinets. He noticed that the bay had been cleaned and repaired.

'I'm sorry Doctor, you didn't get hurt did you?' He said guilty. He had always liked Dr. Chakwas, she had a kind heart and didn't take any shit. Hell she had to patch him up a few times to say the least.

She began to take his blood pressure, 'no thank you Garrus I am fine. We lost some equipment but that's all,' she smiled. 'Nothing a bottle of brandy won't fix.'

'Done,' Garrus made a note to ask Shepard for the Doctor's favourite one. She nodded and unwrapped her stethoscope. After a few more checks Garrus could feel his impatience rolling off him. She clicked on her omni-tool.

'I'm prescribing you a relaxant, not a sedative, take it about fifteen minutes before you want to sleep, which I suggest is shortly.' She looked over to where the Commander was sleeping. 'I would like to have some dinner, Mordin had already returned to his lab with Wrex, would you mind watching her for half an hour? She should be waking up in a few minutes.'

Garrus didn't trust himself to speak so he nodded. Dr. Chakwas made a satisfied noise and went to leave, Garrus took her hand gently.

'Thank you.'

'Just don't make an arse of yourself,' she warned and shut the door behind her.

Garrus chuckled and sat next to her bed, she wasn't using a oxygen mask any more and they had returned her hair back to it's normal colour, he wrapped a few strands through his talons, he could smell her perfume, it was comforting.

She inhaled deeply, he stilled letting go of her hair.

'Garrus?...' she said quietly not opening her eyes.

'yeah it's me... how did you know?' He spoke gently. She hadn't moved at all, she just laid there breathing deeply and steadily.

'woman's intuition...' she muttered.

'Liar,' he quipped back. His heart was pounding in his chest, he was convinced she could hear it. If he had been paying attention to her own heart monitor he would have realised that Shepard's had picked up as well.

She rolled over stiffly and then opened her eyes, 'what happened?' She asked sleepily. She groaned in pain as her back twinged. Garrus poured a glass of water for her that was sitting on a cabinet. He helped her sit upright and handed the glass over.

'You collapsed, you got shot remember,' he reminded.

'Vaguely,' she coughed and sipped the water, 'is everyone ok?'

'Yeah everyone's fine, we were all worried about you,' he admitted.

'Even you?' She asked. Her face was hidden by her hair, Garrus breathed in deeply and took her spare hand, she froze but she didn't pull away.

'Of course even me,' he reassured. 'Look Shepard I'm not really supposed to be here, but I want-'

'Why aren't you supposed to be in here?' She asked suspiciously. She had a little grin on her face, Garrus suspected she found it amusing.

'It's a long story Shepard.'

'Alex.' She corrected him.

'Sorry?'

'It's Alex, Garrus, not Shepard, not Commander, Alex,' she squeezed his hand. She couldn't believe that he was sitting here holding her hand. It was like they had forgiven each other without actually having to say anything. It happened all the time, they would get into little fights and then they would meet up later having thought about what happened and they had already forgiven each other, they still talked about it but there was no reason to. It hit her while she was sitting there that the argument they had was just a overblown hissy fit. Because she was scared. Because he was scared.

'Ok, Alex,' he said (his heart was bursting inside), 'we need to talk about what happened.'

'I agree,' _wow I'm being strangely mature about this, maybe I should get hit by bullets more often, _the pain spiked, _then again maybe not. Fuck me that stings. _She ran her finger over his wrist like she used to, she felt something strange, she looked at his skin there was a large scratch.

'What the fuck is that Garrus?' She blurted.

'Nothing, it's not important,' he groaned. Why did the woman he love have to be distracted so easily? It was like reading a book in the wind, or something, Alex had said it and once she explained it to him, it made sense.

'Oh fucking hell, look there's another one on your neck!' She grabbed his head and twisted it to the side, 'fuck me Garrus, you're all bruised!' She ran her hand down his collar bone, her other hand trailed across his mandible, he hissed in pain as she pressed lightly on his tender skin.

Garrus internally swore, _damn I forgot she was so observant! _He pulled her hands from him and held them in front of her.

'Alex, stop it's nothing I just got into a fight is all-'

'A fight! With whom?! No don't tell me I know, oh fucking hell Garrus what did I say?' She sighed rubbing her head.

The door hissed open and they both looked up.

'Oh speak of the devil,' Alex muttered.

Garrus felt his blood boil. Theros, Theros Ris'ono.

**Quick chapter, haven't spoken to Vorbarra yet but I have heard from her, I don't want to do too much until she catches up so I'm plonking it there, Sorry peoples, anyway drop a review if you please. xx**


	29. Chapter 29

**AND WE'RE BACK WHOOP WHOOOOOOOOOOP! Sorry for the long delay. But here we are. **

'What are you doing here?' Theros asked angrily.

'I could ask you the same thing!' Garrus replied.

Alex sighed, she had only been awake for what ten minutes? And already shit was hitting the fan. She looked at Theros. He had a cut and a bruised eye, clearly these two Turians were evenly matched. She rolled her eyes.

'Cut it out both of you that's a fucking order!' She snapped.

Garrus, still bristling stayed in his seat, Theros stood in the doorway glowering at him. She coughed harshly, both of them ignored each other and immediately began to cluck around her.

'Fuck off I'm fine,' she muttered. 'Now what the hell has been going on? I gave you both an order before we even left the fucking ship and last time I checked I was still in charge. Now what the fuck happened? And none of your 'nothing' bullshit.' She glared at them both accepting the glass of water Garrus handed to her.

'It was just a fight,' Theros muttered.

'About what pray?' Shepard said dangerously.

It was their turn to be all shifty and uncomfortable. She raised an eyebrow, she knew exactly what it was about she just wanted them to say it out loud and realise how stupid they were both being.

'You,' Garrus admitted.

'Why?' She asked.

They couldn't answer, she knew they wouldn't be able to.

'This is bollocks you weren't really fighting over me, you have some past shit that never got settled and you're using me as an excuse, I almost died and you two were too busy fighting with each other to notice.' She said sipping her water.

'Dr. Chakwas said you were in no danger,' Theros replied looking worried.

'She lied,' she revealed, 'I had an allergic reaction to the substance that coated the bullet, but it's ok to fight if I'm injured but not dying? Thanks.'

'Alex-' Garrus began but she cut him off.

'What would have happened if I died during your fight? Or due to it! That's right it Dr. Chakwas told me about how the both of you smashed up the medical bay! How dare you both, this is my fucking ship, I gave you a fucking order to not even have anything to do with each other and you fucking well ignored me!' She was so angry with the both of them. She could feel her pulse rising.

At least both of them looked ashamed with themselves, she breathed in heavily she was beginning to feel a little dizzy.

'Garrus, you claim Theros is stuck up his own arse, and Theros you say that Garrus is too immature? Well from where I'm sitting you're both as bad as each other,' her head spun and she could see spots.

'Get out the pair of you,' she muttered.

They began to protest, she waved them into silence unsteadily, 'no I don't want to hear it. Get out, I don't want to be part of your problem go talk it out. If I hear of any more fighting you'll both be chucked off. Do I make myself clear?'

'Alex-'

She had no idea who said it but she exploded, 'I said get out! Get over yourselves! You're supposed to be grown ups! Go talk it through and shit or I don't want to hear about it!' A wave of dizziness overtook her and she slumped back into her bed. She had collapsed.

'Alex!' Garrus shouted as he stood, Theros rushed over and looked into her eyes.

Dr. Chakwas stormed in, she took one look at what was going on and the vein in her forehead began to throb. Her omni-tool was beeping and flashing, clearly she had been hooked up to the Commander's readings and knew when she had passed out.

She pushed both of them out the way and checked her over, 'blood pressure's high, rapid breathing,' she took out a needle and vial, after injecting Shepard with the solution she turned back to Theros and Garrus.

'What the hell is going on here?' She demanded.

'I-'

'It was-'

She tapped her foot and crossed her arms, she was furious, she had almost lost the Commander on the table earlier, if Mordin hadn't caught the allergic reaction Alex wouldn't have made it. It was a substance the captured Salarian scientists had formulated while captured by Cerberus. Mordin ran in, he ignored the Turians and checked Shepard's vitals. He sighed happily looking at his data pad.

'Disaster diverted, well done,' he praised adjusting some of the settings on the machines.

'I have enough from the both of you! Clearly I was under the impression that you could both be trusted, turns out I was wrong! Now both of you get out before I practise my castration skills, without anaesthetic!' She threatened.

'Would I be able to record some footage? Would be most insightful,' Mordin asked setting up his record feature on his omni-tool.

'Ok, Ok I'm going,' Garrus held up his hands in surrender and left the Medi-bay, Theros was close behind.

He followed him into the Main Battery. Garrus sighed.

'What do you want Ris'ono?' He asked bitterly.

'I am here to talk.'

The Main Battery doors shut behind them, Donnelly who had been passing through the canteen ran to the intercom to call Joker.

'Joker! Joker! Get your arse down here! Get everyone down here! Vakarian and Ris'ono have just locked themselves into the Main Battery!'

Donnelly's voice rang out from the intercom, Joker's face spilt into a smile and he immediately sent a message to everyone's omni-tool. Stations were abandoned, tea and reports were left. Within minutes the canteen was full.

Joker pushed his way to the front and then they began to move toward the doors.

'Bosh'tets,' Tali muttered.

Liara pressed her ear against the door, several others copied her.

'Can you hear anything?' Some one asked.

'Shhh, they're talking...' she said quietly. There was a bit of shoving and Dr. Chakwas made her way to the doors.

'What is going on here?' She hissed.

'They've locked themselves in,' Tali explained fiddling with the doors controls.

'Wait I hear something..' Liara hushed them.

…

'Back off Ris'ono,' Garrus warned.

'I'm not going anywhere,' he replied. 'I noticed something, in that photo of yours,' he mentioned. 'Tell me when did Alex get a tattoo?'

He frowned. 'She doesn't have any tattoos,' he said uncertainly.

'That's where you're wrong, she does, and it's rather large. A dragon, I'm surprised you missed it.'

'And how the hell would you know?!' Garrus accused.

'Temper, I have happened to see her body,' he replied smoothly, Garrus knew that he was trying to wind him up and it was working.

…

'Shepard has a tattoo?' Tali repeated.

'Yes, a dragon that winds down her back and around her waist, its rather beautiful actually,' Dr. Chakwas said.

'When did she get that?' Joker asked.

'After the Collecters,' Liara replied. 'She said she needed something to remember by. I have no idea what she meant but she was so happy with it, actually it's only lately that she asked whether it was possible to get it removed, she said that she was wrong and now it's just a bitter reminder of what was. I'll never understand that woman.'

…

'What the hell do you want?' He slammed his fist against the table.

'I want her,' Theros said confidently.

'No. She is mine,' Garrus said possessively.

'Well I'm not backing down. It's not like she's going to choose now?' Theros pointed out.

Garrus cursed the spirits, damn woman. Why couldn't this be easy?

'So what do you want to do about it?' He said bitterly.

'We'll do this the old fashioned way,' Theros replied growling.

…

-Smack-

They all winced at the sound.

'Tali, EDI get this door open now!' Liara shouted.

'GOT IT!' Tali shouted pulling out a wire.

The Main Battery doors opened, everyone prepared themselves for the bloodshed. Which there wasn't.

Theros and Garrus held each other by the right forearms and were growling deeply.

'Ahh the Turian competitive gesture,' Mordin said knowledgeably, 'not often seen, very rare, when a female cannot decide between two equally strength males they take it upon themselves to show the female they are better than the other one,' he muttered recording the scene.

'More fights?' Liara whispered. They hadn't even noticed that the whole crew were waiting and watching not ten feet away. They simply stood with their mandibles flaring, growling.

'No, it is now to do with skill, communication and other things, fascinating.'

Theros gripped and jerked Garrus' head closer, with one last rumbling growl he let him go and stormed out the room, the crowd parted like the water to let him pass. Garrus looked at them and clicked a button on his console, the door shut with a barely audible hiss.

'Well um, what happens now?' Tali asked.

'I have no idea,' Liara replied.

**BAM! Yeah! Ok please review peoples xx**


	30. Chapter 30

**Sorry for the delay peoples, running up to christmas a lot of hours put in at work, it's mayhem!**

It had been a few days, Shepard was up and running and they were on a straight path to Tuchanka, Mordin was flapping around, Wrex and Eve had assembled in their own quarters and were talking about the planet's future. Alex had avoided the two Turians and both of them seem to have been civil to each other, it was calm on the Normandy. For the moment.

Alex wandered down into the Medical Bay, they had docked for supplies and she promised the good Doctor some more medical equipment. What she didn't expect to see was the large crate sitting in the middle of the floor with the Doctor fussing over it like a new born. She lent against the door and observed the situation.

'Commander it's good to see you, what is the matter?' Dr. Chakwas asked, she had her omni-tool open and was scanning the crate.

'What's this?'

'Medical supplies, Mr. Ris'ono had them delivered,' she said happily. Alex rolled her eyes, it had happened again, the last few days it was like the two of them were trying to outdo each other, Garrus brought her favourite foods, Theros a new hairbrush that sort of thing. She had also spied Mordin filming the both of them whenever he could. She smiled as she remembered Mordin being thrown out of the men's bathroom when Garrus had entered previously.

'Oh, are they Alliance?' She asked.

'Actually no,' Theros replied entering the bay behind her, he walked past and smiled at the crate, 'these are much better than Alliance, the new prototypes, perfect for the ship, we need every advantage we can get.'

'Hmm,' she said crossing her arms, 'don't bother unwrapping it, get it off my ship.' She stated.

'What?' The both of them said.

'I don't want it, I accepted technology once and my crew paid the price when the Collecters abducted them, I don't want it to happen again.' She shrugged her shoulders.

'It's perfectly fine Shepard,' Theros insisted.

'No.'

Theros scowled and mimicked her pose, his mandibles clicked in irritation. Dr. Chakwas didn't look too impressed either. She tapped her foot angrily.

'Commander you can't be serious, we need this equipment!' She protested.

'I said no, I don't want the risk.' She said bluntly.

'Commander..' she started, she had a look on her face that Alex had learnt to fear, it said, ''try me,'' she knew that the Doctor could make her life unbearable. It had happened before and she knew that it could happen again if she didn't play her cards right. She crumbled.

'Fine. Only. I mean it, only if EDI says it's completely safe. And I mean so safe that even I couldn't muck it up.'

'That's a hard order Commander,' the Doctor joked.

'But those are my terms,' she grinned. Theros looked a lot happier and Dr. Chakwas looked like it was Christmas, she clapped her hands and begun to unwrap the giant box. Alex shook her head in disbelief, even though she was the commanding officer it sure didn't feel like it at times, it was mutiny most of the time. She waved her goodbyes, it looked like the Medi-Bay was going to be perfectly fine. She would have to ask Theros where he got the machinery from and what made it better than Alliance.

… … …

She got the chance later that night, it had been a usual boring day, which was quite unusual. She was trying hard not to be distracted by other missions that kept cropping up and stay true on their course to the Krogan homeland. She felt she deserved a drink. She had invited Tali and Liara but they were both busy, she was going to grab a bottle of wine and settle down with a book, before the next major disaster dropped in her lap. She opened the door with a skip in her step, there was another occupant in the bar but she ignored the other crew member and dived into the wine rack humming happily. She thought they were going to speak so she said happily over her shoulder.

'Ignore me, I'm not here. You saw nothing..' she grinned. She had her back to the other person, she was leaning over the bar top reaching underneath the side. She scrabbled frantically for a bottle she knew for a fact was there earlier. She swore under her breath. She knew she wasn't being very officer like but all she wanted was a damn drink.

'Looking for this?' A familiar voice asked.

She spun around, Theros was sitting on the sofa nursing a glass of the wine she was looking for. He grinned and handed her the bottle.

'Sorry I didn't realise you had reserved the bottle.' He apologized, Alex shrugged her shoulders and sat on the sofa opposite him, now she could ask him about the medical supplies without having to hunt him down.

'Don't worry about it. Wanna share?' Theros nodded and she rose to get herself another glass. She poured a small amount and sipped it, she hummed in joy. Theros raised a brow and she stuck out her tongue. 'So tell me what's going on?'

'About what Alex?'

'You and Garrus, the brush, the equipment, y'know the stuff,' she said pointedly.

'Oh nothing, it's just a little thing between us, nothing to worry about. And the medical supplies are top of the range, I thought you would like them,' he steered the conversation in exactly the area Shepard wanted.

'Speaking of which,' (yes I'm letting go the other subject but not for long; she thought.) 'How did you manage to get hold of it?' She swirled the wine in her glass releasing a wonderful aroma.

He lent back on the sofa, a slightly sad expression crossed his face, 'I wasn't always a military man, I am a scientist.'

'Doesn't explain it all.'

He sighed and toyed with his dog tags, 'very well. I was bound to tell you later anyway. I met a woman while I working on a case, details of which I won't bore you with. If you are interested I'll tell you but not now. I met this woman, human, before you ask, beautiful, smart, witty. Not scared to do the right thing even if it meant that someone got hurt.'

Alex wondered privately where this was going but she let him speak, it didn't surprise her that he had, had previous liaisons with human women. She settled down and made a motion for him to continue.

'She,' he sighed, 'her name was Mia, she was a doctor. Could even treat Turian patients, that's how I met her actually. Long story short, we fell in love, I even asked her to marry me.' He said sadly. Alex felt her heart twinge, the sub vocals in his voice scraped down a blackboard of sadness that she knew only far too well. She moved seats and sat next to him, she didn't want to seem patronising, she was genuinely interested.

'It was when we were evacuating Palaven, I was a General then, she was on one of the transport ships that I was co-ordinating into space, I thought she would be safe, I mean it had to be better then waiting planet side. We always told each other that if anything happened during the war we would carry on, find other loved ones. I failed her.' He knocked back his wine, Alex could see the tear trails down his plates. She didn't say anything. She wished deep down she had never asked.

'The direction I sent them in, a reaper appeared and shot them out the sky, I was talking to her when it happened. Suddenly she was gone, I resigned the next day,' he sighed, 'but in a nut shell the case that we worked on allowed me to gain contacts that dropped off that equipment earlier today.' He sipped his wine, wiping his face.

'I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring it up,' Alex began.

'No don't be, we always knew something might happen. It's nice knowing that there are others I feel comfortable with,' he said looking at her. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

'Another bottle?' She asked.

'Sure, but I don't fancy getting drunk.'

'Me either, but now it's my turn to unload about lost loves..' She said grinning but with a sad tinge in her voice. Theros smiled and nodded. She got up and inspected the wine rack.

**Okie people gonna have to stop it there, got work to go to, promise the next chapter wont be too much longer to wait for. Please review xx**


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry for the long update times, I know it's not fair but Christmas is a very busy time!**

She returned with a bottle, light on the alcohol percentage, she made sure. She uncorked the stasis cap and poured them both a glass. Theros raised his in thanks and Alex slid into her seat next to him.

'So what lucky man gave you up?' Theros asked trying to lighten the situation.

'Not so lucky, trust me. I'm a head case, and well let's just say he didn't get off that easily,' she took a gulp. 'I uh, became involved with another crew member against my better judgement.' Alex said bitterly. 'I was scared that if I didn't take the chance I would die without knowing.'

'Is this Kaiden Alenko?'

'How did you know!?' She asked, raising herself out her chair a little causing her wine to slop over the glass.

'Alex, you died, even I saw the vids, he was hounded for stories about you for a couple of years, everyone wanted to know about your relationship. He never spoke about it but you could see how broken he was, chased down by paparazzi all wanting that little snippet of information that would send them to the top.'

She settled down, 'I forget, well I try to, but it only feels like the day after the accident that I woke up. It's hard for me to believe that it was two years..' she sighed, she had forgiven Kaiden about what he had said but it still stung, it was a wound that would never heal. 'Well he was the main one, I loved him, but when he found out I was with Cerberus it was something that he could never accept,' she shrugged.

'There are others?' Theros filled his glass, 'you said he was the main one.'

'There's only one other, but I don't think he counts. That's all you're getting out of me,' she grinned wickedly. 'A girl's gotta have some secrets y'know.' She finished her glass. 'I miss him, Theros.'

'Who?' He asked.

'Both of them really for different reasons, I miss Kaiden's sweetness, I miss the laughter we would share. I understand that we will never get that back too much has happened, to much water under the bridge but it doesn't stop me wondering. But don't ever tell him that his head is big enough.'

Theros laughed, but his chuckles turned sad, 'I do know what you mean when you say you miss them, I miss Mia, more than I thought possible.'

They drank more, reminiscing about times long past, Shepard almost cried. Almost.

'Now I know why they call alcohol a depressant,' Alex looked at her empty glass, the urge to open another bottle was strong but she clamped down on it. She didn't feel like getting drunk, it wouldn't be the good drunk; she knew it would be the ''cradling one's omni-tool calling your exes'' type of drunk. Not a good thing. Most of the time. 'Time for bed I think.'

'My idea exactly, you don't want to see a grown man sob,' he joked. She stood and took his empty glass, she put the both of them in the dishwasher and chucked the bottles in the recycling. Theros cleared the mess they had made, housekeeping done he walked her to the elevator.

'Thanks for listening to me bitch Theros, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry about Mia, have you even tried to locate her, uh, body?'

Theros shook his head, 'I want to, but, there's too much confusion around Palaven at the moment, when this is all over I'll hold a proper goodbye for her.' He said sadly, 'until then I will pray to the spirits she is in a better place,' he smiled. 'Thanks Alex, I haven't spoken to anyone about Mia, it's nice to get it off my chest.'

'If it's any consolation I would have done the same thing,' Alex said quietly.

He titled his head, 'actually that helps, thank you.' Shepard nodded and hugged him tightly, he returned her hug, they had found a solace in each other, it was nice to know that you weren't the only one in your boat but there were indeed others clambering aboard. She pressed the button to call the lift. 'Goodnight Rizz,' she kissed his mandible.

'So I'm forgiven?' He joked.

'For now, but don't try me, otherwise the airlock will become your bosom buddy.' She smiled back.

'Hint taken, sleep well Alex,' he left her as the elevator door opened. She clicked the button for the loft and sighed happily.

… … … …

She was lying on her back holding a book above her at the end of her bed. Her feet rested on her pillows, she wrapped the quilt around her. She hadn't bothered to get changed, she was putting off taking a shower until she was actually going to go to bed, she read a page and turned over.

'Commander?' EDI's voice rang out. Shepard sat up and turned down her music.

'Yo? Wassup?' _God knows how I ever got this high up the chain of command, _she thought.

'Officer Vakarian is asking entry to your quarters, would you like me to allow him in?' The AI asked.

'Uh sure why not,' she kicked off the blanket and tried to sort out her bed hair. She failed. Resigned to the fact she was going to look like she had been dragged through a bush, she simply smiled when he entered looking around. 'Hey Garrus, what's the matter?'

'I just wanted to see how you were doing, we haven't had a lot of time to talk an-' he stopped in the middle sentence, he strode forward leaning close to her, she raised a brow but didn't move. 'I can smell him all over you,' he growled.

'Well duh, that's what happens when you hug someone, well Turians anyway, I can smell you on my clothing if I hug you,' she said, not mentioning that she didn't wash some of her clothing for the exact reason.

'You hugged him?'

'We had a drink and a talk, what the fuck is wrong with you Garrus? It's not that big of a deal, honestly.' She scowled.

'Wait you can smell me on your clothing?' He asked the statement had thrown him.

'Yeah, I prefer your smell over his, not gonna lie, oh wait that's really creepy isn't it. Oh fuck. Pretend I never said that, that's an order.'_ Oh shit I cannot believe I just said that,_ she cringed.

'Hold on, not only can you smell and distinguish scents that are for Turians only, you prefer my scent to his?' He smiled smugly. Cocky Vakarian was back in play.

Shepard winced, she held her head in embarrassment and sat on the edge of the bed. 'That's a direct violation of not talking about it! And besides I never thought it was a Turian thing, I just thought it was a y'know Garrus thing.' She slapped her head. 'Oh Garrus could you leave now before I make a bigger twat out of myself? Please?'

He grinned, his mandibles clicking in amusement. Kneeling down to her level he looked at her between her hands. 'When did you get a tattoo?'

'Or change the subject,' she muttered, 'how do you know about my tattoo?'

'Someone showed me a photo,' he said.

'Oh he's a dead man.. remind me to kill him,' she said putting two and two together. 'And I got the tattoo after we defeated the Collecters. I was so I remembered.'

'Remembered what?' He asked. Alex looked at him with an emotion in her eyes that he couldn't name.

'A better time, a first time. A happier time,' she smiled cryptically. 'Maybe I'll tell you one day, if we get through this.'

'I'll hold you to that,' he smirked.

She punched him on the shoulder. 'Deal.'

'Another question,' Garrus said.

Alex sighed and threw herself back on her bed, 'is this going to go on all night? Should I just make camp and a fire, maybe order marshmallows while you ask me twenty questions?' She giggled from the bed. Garrus stood and then perched on the side of her bed. Alex lifted her head and shimmied over to where he was sitting.

'What were you and Ris'ono talking about?'

She saw no harm in telling him, 'lost loves, previous heartbreaks that sort of thing.'

'Oh.'

'My turn,' she grinned, 'would you like to stay up here for a while and we'll have a chat like we used to, I really miss them,' she admitted. It's not the only thing she missed either, she wasn't lying to Theros when she said she wished she had some things back.

'Would you mind? I would like that,' Garrus felt his heart lift, finally some time with Alex, like they used to, just to sit and laugh, maybe he would be able to sort out this mess that they had found themselves in.

'I wouldn't have offered otherwise you pleb. Lets grab some dinner and come back up, we'll stick a bad vid on and talk,' Alex said happily.

'Sounds like a plan.'

**Well I hope you like drop a review and let me know xx**


	32. Chapter 32

**Yay another update! Whoop whoop. **

'First we need shitty food and drink, real honest to god crappy junk food.' Alex bounced off the bed.

'Why?' Garrus asked with a chuckle.

'That's what you do! Junk food and fizzy drinks, or booze, but I've had almost a bottle of wine so I'll be sticking to the regular old carbonated stuff.' She pulled on a boot.

'You're pushing away the opportunity to get more alcohol? Are you learning self control? This is a big day for us Commander, we should mark it on the calender.' He gasped mockingly, he then had to duck to avoid the data pad that was thrown at him.

'I said no Commander shit, Vakarian. Also enough of your wise ass cracks. Cheeky git.' She rummaged around for her other shoe and triumphantly pulled it on when she found it. 'Right now let go downstairs and get some grub.'

'You had to put your shoes on for that?'

'Remember how Grunt used to leave stuff outside my door? Yeah we'll after stepping in something for the numerous time you tend to learn to put shoes on before you leave your room. Also don't tell him that's the reason he may kill you.' She laughed and opened the door to the elevator, she quickly looked down, it was barely perceptible but Garrus was looking out for it. He grinned and shook his head following her.

… … … … …

'Fooood, food, food, food, food, food...' Alex muttered under her breath while she entered the canteen. Garrus lent against the table watching her root through cupboards and the fridge. Most of the crew were in bed or on downtime so they had the place to themselves. Shepard started pulling random things out of the cupboards, scarily neon coloured packets. Garrus could feel his teeth ache just looking at it. She pulled out a large bowl and dumped a few of the packets into it. She shoved it at Garrus to hold which he did in reflex. She didn't stop and continued to rummage for other things. Garrus heard the elevator door hiss open.

'Ahh Shepard you are still awake?' Wrex boomed around the corner. She popped her head up from behind a counter. She grinned her mouth full of crisps or something.

'Wrex? Wassup?' She walked around and embraced the large Krogan. He playfully nutted her which sent her back a step but she was still smiling, Garrus relaxed, the first time Wrex did that he knocked her out for about an hour. When she awoke she tracked his sorry arse down and nutted him biotically. She called him a moron and said next time to do it properly or not at all.

She punched him on the arm. He chuckled and sent one back which she dodged, luckily, it looked like it would have sent her across the room. 'So what are you doing down here?'

'Vakarian and I are gonna watch a film,' she said happily, she returned to her foraging.

'Oh, anything good?' He asked.

'We hadn't actually decided,' Garrus said, 'it's more of a spur of the moment thing than an actual planned evening,' he chuckled. He was getting worried with the amount of food that Alex deemed necessary for the both of them. He could see that none of it was remotely healthy or would be given to a child under ten.

'What about Grambo 7?' Wrex suggested, 'it's about a Krogan super spy. Ignores all traditions and true life but it had all the action and squishy bits that humans love.' He shrugged.

'A Krogan super spy? That sounds AWESOME! Garrus we are watching that film, EDI? Download it for me yeah?' She bounced back to him holding a large bottle filled with a purplish fizzy liquid. Garrus groaned, he had a feeling his body was going to get back at him somehow after eating all this.

'Commander? There are several files available for download, I have a censored version, the normal cinema version or the extended version, which would you like?' EDI's voice asked from the ceiling speakers.

'The extended version, I want me some gore! It that alright?' She asked at Garrus.

'Uh, sure, whatever you want,' he replied stunned. Shepard smiled and went to grab a tray. Wrex sidled up to Garrus who was watching Shepard with an amused smile on his features.

'Hey Garrus, you going to partake in showing her your Turian cruiser? Or is it a battleship?' He whispered. Krogans couldn't whisper very well but luckily Alex was too busy looking for glasses and wasn't paying attention. Needless to say the whisper bounced off the walls.

'What?! No!' He replied. At a higher decimal than usual. He coughed and tried to regain some masculinity. 'No Wrex, we're just watching a film.'

'Uh-huh, sure, like you did before the Omega 4 relay?' He brayed with laughter. 'Listen Garrus, for a Turian you're not all bad, in fact I think I actually like you, I've heard what's been going on between you two. My advice pull the stick out your arse and beat that smug pyjack to death with it. What ever happens, just don't hurt her otherwise me and you will be having a chat,' he looked at Garrus' expression and chuckled. 'Relax, you'll do fine, personally I wouldn't have intervened when you two where fighting each other, I would have liked to see you kill him.' He clapped him on the shoulder. 'Hey Commander, enjoy the film, I've got to get back to Eve, just came out to stretch my legs.'

'Oh ok! Laters Wrex!' She replied oblivious to what just happened. She piled everything on the tray and wobbling slightly she came over to Garrus, 'ready?' She asked.

'Uh yeah. Sure.'

'What were you and Wrex chatting about?' She pushed the button with her elbow.

'Uh, nothing important, y'know men stuff,' he shrugged. Alex sniggered.

'Men stuff, right.' She replied unconvinced. The lift dinged at the loft and she entered the code to her quarters, 'EDI should have downloaded the film by now, but I would like a shower and a change of clothing, y'mind waiting?' She stepped over her discarded armour and other bits that littered the floor and placed the towering tray on the table.

'No course not,' Garrus said, it was getting awkward now, it was fine while they were looking for food and drink, but now he was actually in Shepard's quarters; at least it wasn't as embarrassing as when he put on that awful club music. He could feel his heart pounding. This is it, he would be able to tell her how he really felt and they could put all this stupid running around behind them and he would have his mate back.

'Kay, I won't be long, start the film, y'know what Krogan credits are like, we have at least half an hour before the film actually begins.' She walked into the bath room and locked the door. She shrugged off her clothing throwing it in the general direction of the laundry chute. She turned on the shower and stepped under the scolding water. She sighed in relief. After a few minutes of just standing she realised that she had a smoking hot Turian in her bedroom. It wasn't just any Turian, it was Garrus. The thought of him made her weak. She grabbed some nice smelling soap, it wasn't the same stuff that Kelly sent her but it would do, it did have glitter in it, one of the girly things she actually liked. After scrubbing furiously she finally smelt of vanilla and was covered in sparkles. She hopped out and dried her hair. Then she realised that she hadn't actually taken any clean clothing into the bathroom with her. 'Fuck!' She hissed. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck,' sighing she wrapped a towel around herself. She shyly let herself out, the door slid open, Garrus was sitting on the sofa with a glass watching the opening credits. He turned when the door opened. He didn't say anything but his posture changed, whether that was a good thing or not she wasn't sure.

Alex tried to casually tried to walk to her dresser but it meant walking past his smug looking face. 'I forgot my clothing,' she muttered, her face was turning red. Garrus just smiled. 'Ok Vakarian what is it?' She demanded, trying to hold her towel in place.

'Oh don't mind me, it's not often your commanding officer wanders around in a towel, so I'll just sit here quietly.' He quipped. She stuck her tongue out at him and pulled some clothing out of her drawers.

'I'll be right back,' she said trying not to laugh. Garrus nodded and sipped his drink, it was clear that he was trying not to make a smart arse comment. She returned to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, her hair was sticking up in odd directions and she had a flush to her skin. 'Damnit!' She cursed dragging a brush through her hair. She had grabbed a tank top and shorts, they'll do. Whenever Garrus entered her rooms she would turn up the heating, he was used to a hot atmosphere so she would do it to make him more comfortable. It did mean that she would have to be easy on the layers. Oh well. She got dressed she paused in front of the mirror. 'Right, calm down, breathe, just watching a film with Garrus, just be normal,' she groaned, 'I'm so fucked,' she whispered. Breathing in heavily she left the bathroom.

Garrus felt his chest tighten. He had tried to make out like this night wasn't a big deal, but to him it was. Alex seemed ok, she had even wandered around in a towel. He had rubbed his head and tried to relax and simply watch the film but his eyes kept drifting over to the bathroom where she was getting dressed. While he was trying to settle his mind she left the bathroom. He felt his breath hitch in his chest, she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, even wearing something as simple as a pair of shorts and a top. He tried to act casually and simply shifted his position.

She plonked down next to him and accepted the glass he had prepared for her. She sipped it stretching her legs out in front of her, her skin had a shimmer; she had been using glittery soap again. All It did was magnify her already flawless complexion, Garrus had to dig his talons into his palm to regain what little self control he had. The film started with a loud crash. Shepard jumped at the noise, Garrus sniggered at her. She punched him on the arm and they settled down.

… … … … …

'Oh fuck no! That was complete bollocks! Tell me you saw that?' She threw a piece of popcorn at the screen. She was leaning on Garrus they were about a quarter way through the four hour extended version. Shepard had decimated what food they had brought up with them.

'Yes, yes I saw it,' he laughed. 'Although it's not that different from the time Tali killed that Geth.'

'That was completely unintentional! It doesn't count,' she threw some popcorn into the air and caught it.

'It so does count!' He protested.

'Nu-uh! She didn't plan for her bullet to ricochet of the one behind it! There's no way Grambo could have planned that shot, it's bollocks. Utter shit.' Shepard shook her head, pushing him away slightly.

'You're in denial, you're just annoyed that because of that shot she won the bet that you made,' he pointed out.

'It was unfair, the bet had finished, those kills didn't count! Ugh, whatever, I'm not going to win this,' Shepard shrugged with a grin on her face. This evening was turning out to be really fun, after the first initial bit of awkwardness they had soon settled down watching the film. They fell silent while Grambo charged across the screen while various assailants exploded as he hit them. Even though Shepard had seen a lot of stuff she winced. As unrealistic as it was she hated that she was enjoying it. Garrus chuckled as a Volus was thrown through a window.

Alex finished the rest of her drink and looked in the glass, she could do with a refill. She leant over Garrus to reach the bottle.

'Oh.'

Garrus had chosen that moment to reach past her for the bowl of food. Their heads bumped together. She blushed. Garrus chuckled nervously. They moved away slowly. Their hands lingered on top of one of another.

'I'm sorry,' she mumbled.

'It's ok,' he replied.

They sat awkwardly. Garrus sighed time to take the plunge.

'Alex-'

'Garrus-'

They both interrupted each other. 'You first,' Shepard whispered.

He coughed and twisted around so that he was facing her, 'ok, right, well, here goes nothing. Listen Sh- Alex, we've uh, we've been through a lot and I uh, listen, I just. I'm not making a lot of sense right now.'

'Garrus?'

'I miss you. I miss us...' he said quietly.

Alex felt her breath stick in her throat, he clenched her had wanting a reaction. Alex could see various scenarios racing through her mind, she could push him away, see the hurt in his eyes. Feel the clench in her own heart. She could run, get down to engineering or to Liara's quarters and hide to her from her own cowardice. Or she could bite the bullet and act on what her heart was screaming at her to do.

She pushed his hand away from hers.

'Alex,' he began, she could hear the sadness in his voice.

'Stop it Garrus,' she said.

'But-'

'Enough,' she said. He fell quiet. Shepard turned the film off. They sat in silence. Her body was trembling. _This is the moment where everything could change. _

She wound her fingers through his, Alex looked deep into his piercing blue eyes. She could see the same fear that toiled through her stomach echo in her reflection. She cast aside all doubts she held inside, and threw herself into his arms.

'I missed you Garrus.'

He caught her holding her tightly around her waist. His talons bit into her skin, pushing herself further into his embrace. She pressed her cheek against his mandible, Alex felt tears trickle down her face, she was laughing, and she could hear Garrus laughing with her. She kissed his mandible, he ran his talons through her hair, pulling at the strands.

She felt the heat emanate from his body. Alex wrapped her legs around his hips, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. They tumbled onto the quilt legs entwined. Garrus kissed her drinking in her scent, he felt like if he didn't get enough he would wake up and Alex would be gone. It felt like a dream.

She moaned as he nipped the soft skin under her jaw. Garrus growled deep in his chest. Alex nuzzled the crook of his neck, breathing in his smell, he pawed at her clothing, needing to see her body, needing to be with her.

'Commander?' EDI asked.

They awoke out of their lust, reluctantly they broke apart.

'God damnit EDI this better be a life or death situation!' Alex shouted at the ceiling. Garrus still had his hand on the skin of her waist, she felt the electric tingles from were his talons were lazily making circles driving her wild.

'Could you make your way to the CIC immediately please,' her voice cut out.

'Fucking AI's! Who the fuck designed them to be a fucking cockblock,' Alex hissed under her breath. She could feel Garrus laughing beside her. 'That's it laugh it up Vakarian,' she threw the pillow at him.

'What? Who said you were getting any?' He pulled the pillow from his face, throwing it back he laughed.

'What's the point of being the commanding officer if you can't get a bit of fucking privacy. This had better be a life or death thing, if it isn't it soon will be!'

'Alex,' Garrus pulled her back onto the bed. 'Enough, this evening has gone better than what I had hoped. Just relax, I'm not happy either but it has answered enough questions.'

Grumbling Alex pulled her uniform out of her dresser and ran into the bathroom, Garrus sat content on the edge of her bed. Sure they didn't do a lot of talking but sometimes actions speak louder than words. Alex left dressed in her smart clothes. She either didn't know or she didn't care but she did nothing to hide the bite mark on the inside of her neck that peeked out the top of her collar. She grinned at him.

'Coming with me Officer?' She grinned.

'Where ever you go,' he replied.

**Well I hope you all liked, I don't know if it showed but I'm not very good at writing smutty like things. Practice makes perfect though ;P Please drop a review I am really nervous about what you all think about this. Love all. **


	33. Chapter 33

**Sorry for my disappearing act, modem died on me and trying to get it fixed so close to christmas was like pulling teeth. Ugh. Anyways... Chapter! Many thanks to Vorbarra who pretty much wrote this, I'm just filling it in like always lol xx**

Chapter uhh hold on... Chapter 33!

Alex and Garrus ran out of the elevator to the CIC station, lights were flashing, other people running from place to place. She waited for a crew member to pass her data pads in hand. 'Liara?' Alex called. The Asari was leaning over a console Theros at her elbow furiously tapping the keyboard. She lifted her head and as soon as she saw it was Shepard she ran over with her omni-tool opening. 'What the fuck is going on?'

'Prothean tech. Possible beacon in fact. The planet has just been attacked by reapers, we were doing intel there and it went dark. There is only one significant colony planet side. Mostly Humans, some Asari and a few Turians. We need to get there and fast. No radio contact, only static. Completely dead.' She said grimly. Alex gripped her forearm trying to reassure the young woman. 'The council have ordered immediate collection of data, we are to land and go straight for the information.' She sighed. 'Theros and I have been trying to configure where the beacon; if it's still intact or does indeed exist, where it might be. We've located two possible locations either side of the colony but the planet is unstable. Survivors unlikely.'

'But not impossible.' Alex stated, she looked at Garrus who was hovering by her shoulder. He nodded in agreement. 'Right then we need three teams, one for each location, one for survivors.' She dragged Liara over to her computer leaving Garrus. They began to discuss various scenarios. Theros angrily clicked on his own console, he swore and turned around.

'Lia-' He stopped, only just aware that Garrus had even entered the room. His eyes narrowed, mandibles flaring he stepped closer and took a deep breath through his nose. He could smell Alex all over him. Garrus folded his arms and stared defiantly at the other Turian. His instinct was to back off but that annoyed him more, it meant that Vakarian had become more dominant. Pure anger overthrew his initial reaction and it took all his willpower not to throw a punch and send the smirking Turian through a computer. He growled. Garrus raised a brow and coolly walked back over to where Alex was standing and said something in her ear. All the time not breaking eye contact with Theros. She nodded and touched his arm her hand lingering. His growl grew deeper.

Garrus walked toward the lift, Theros followed, he sent his data to Liara's omni-tool. No-one seemed to notice the forceful strides he used to cross the room. He rounded the corner and found Vakarian patiently waiting for the elevator to arrive.

'Vakarian-' He began.

'Yes Ris'ono?' Garrus said politely. He felt oddly calm, the evening in Alex's cabin had done wonders.

'I have no idea why or, or how but trust me this is not over!' Theros threatened pointing a finger, as he was a bit taller than Garrus he was an intimidating sight. Garrus merely smirked his mandibles twitching. He was becoming irritated very quickly.

'Listen, I can smell your anger but this is her choice!' He whispered furiously. 'Her choice! Face it Ris'ono, you've lost!' The lift arrived and Garrus held it open with his hand.

Theros flexed his arms instinctively, 'it was not my choice! We are going to settle this between ourselves!'

'Fine! But now is not the time nor place, when this mission is over!' Garrus let the doors close ending the conversation. Theros snarled, breathing heavily he lent against the wall. He was losing control. They had to get to the planet fast and solve this problem, his willpower was at an all time low, he had no idea how he would act when he next saw Vakarian, it would be brutal to say the least. Rubbing his face with his hand he composed himself and re-entered the CIC and all the hassle.

… … … … … …

Alex checked the clip on her assault rifle, 'right ok people this is gonna be a bitch of a drop. Tali, EDI, Mordin, you will be looking for survivors if there are any. Theros, Javik and Vega you're to look for the beacon on the left side of the colony, Garrus, Liara and I will be looking on the other side, that way there's two Prothean experts on either side, well of Javik's a expert, I mean you're Prothean.' Alex grinned at the stoic expression on his face, 'right well I'm getting off topic. All of you fight like never before and try not to fucking die yeah?' The shuttle doors opened and they all descended. There were a few buildings around but most of the place had been destroyed. The teams ran for relevant cover surveying their surroundings.

'Tell me Lola. How are you an expert on Protheans?' Vega asked over the comms. 'I'm just about as much as an expert as you are.'

'Apart from being the only one to be able to make Javik crack a smile? You get zapped by a couple of beacons and get haunted in your dreams for a few years. Then we'll talk.' She shuddered. 'Alright people let's get going.'

She moved forward, Garrus covering. She went from cover to cover, until she reached a door, she opened it and peeked in. 'Looks like it's clear guys. Maybe we were too late,' she stood up. A loud gunshot rang out and blew a patch in the stone beside her head. Shepard ducked and rolled as soon as she heard the shot. 'Hostiles!' She shouted.

'No Commander!' Javik replied. 'Citizens.' Gingerly she looked over her cover, indeed there was a frightened looking man wielding a small but powerful pistol in her direction. He was standing frozen to the spot for two laser dots danced on his body. One on his forehead the other hovering over his heart. Theros and Garrus hadn't missed him.

'Relax guys. He's just a bit trigger happy,' Alex said. The dots winked out and the man seemed to breathe again. He lowered the gun and began to apologise as soon as Shepard took off her helmet.

'I just heard the shuttle! I-I thought it was more of those, those things! I'm sorry, I wouldn't have. Wait, you're not raiders are you? Slavers?' The pistol bobbed back up in her direction. His hand was shaking and she was sure that he would pull the trigger from nerves alone. Her team around him got his heart or head in their sights. Various lasers marked his body.

'I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance, We're here to help you,' she said slowly.

'Oh yeah how do I know you're not lying?' He had begun to sweat. Alex motioned with her hand for everyone to drop their weapons, only Garrus disobeyed. She gave him a pointed look and he with great reluctance lowered his sniper rifle.

'Because I would have let my team shot you would I not?' Alex said crossing her arms. 'I could have killed you with biotics, but seeing as I haven't, put down your fucking gun. Before I do lose my temper and shoot you in the fucking knee for being a dumb arse.' She said quite casually. The man nodded and slowly dropped his hand.

'O-ok sorry I just, I can't be too careful, there are only children and a few adults left.' He brushed his grimy hair out of his eyes, 'I will take you to them.'

**And that's it. Lol. Till next time, drop a review if you're feeling kind. xx**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

They followed him through several buildings, until they entered one that looked like it had been patched up, rudimentary shielding covered the windows, planks of wood made rough barricades, he shifted one of them to the side revealing a trap door. He hesitated before it looking at Alex with a calculating glance, she smiled softly trying to reassure him. He nodded to himself and tapped in a quick code, the trap door opened with a protesting squeal and he dropped through onto the ladder. Alex turned to her team, 'okay people change of plan, Theros, Tali, and EDI go to the left side of the colony start looking, Liara, Javik, Vega, ditto but on the right side, we need to find this beacon right away, remember this planet is unstable, we've got a few hours tops, don't move further than a few miles, keep in radio contact. Mordin, Garrus you're with me.' Her teams nodded and they moved out. 'Be safe.' Alex whispered to herself. Once they were out of sight she followed Garrus and Mordin down the hatch locking it behind her.

Small worried faces watched her from the gloom, Alex's heart shattered into small pieces, Turian, Asari, Human, they were all there. Only a few adults stood around a table, the man they had persuaded to take them waved them over. They had made their temporary home in a dingy cellar, she could see that they had knocked down a few walls to adjoining basements to create extra room. An Asari woman shushed the children and herded them into a room which had been converted to hold a few beds. The man put his gun on the table and sighed heavily.

'Everyone,' he said to the room, 'this is Commander Shepard of the Alliance.' The children tittered amongst themselves, the adults cast a criticizing eye over her and her squad. Mordin opened his omni-tool. Shepard nodded and he began to scan the adults. They steeped away from him wary.

'Do you have any injured? Mordin will help you.' Alex stated.

'A few of the children won't stop coughing, I've tried everything I can think of!' The young Asari woman spoke up, Mordin rushed over speaking quickly under his breath. She pointed him in the right direction a few pallets in the far corner where a few young ones lay.

'Is this all of you?' Alex asked.

'Yes,' the man replied solemnly. 'This is it.'

'What's your name?' Alex said kindly. She could see the wear that sat on the man's shoulders. A Human woman replied for him.

'Wayne, his name is Wayne, I'm Sarah, that's Caria,' she pointed to the young Asari, 'and that's Serit.' She motioned to a Turian standing in the corner, he hadn't put his weapon down, and he was regarding Garrus with a evaluating eye.Alex could tell he was about mid-twenties, in the military, he was probably the reason they were still all alive, Caria and Sarah were dressed in child carers clothing and Wayne had the insignia of a teaching brand on his forearm. She nodded to Garrus and he walked over to talk to Serit, who immediately straightened up and took the safety off his gun. _He's no fool at least, _Alex thought.

'How many of you are there?'

'Twenty, four adults, sixteen children, all their parents lost.' Wayne spat bitterly. 'They were my students. The school is a few houses over. We tunnelled from there.' As he said it Alex could see the entrance in one of the walls, barely big enough to crouch in, they would have had to slide on their bellies to get through.

'Wayne can I talk to you over here?' Alex motioned with her head, 'please?' He followed her to the tunnel that they dug. 'Listen to me, what you've done here is amazing, but this planet is unstable, my team and I were sent here to look for a Prothean beacon, but we will help you, we will need your co-operation in order to do so. How soon do you think you'll be able to get the children and others up and moving?'

'The planet is unstable? How long do we have?' He asked worried.

'A few hours,' she said with brute honesty. 'How long Wayne?'

'Um about half an hour, we'll have to make slings for the younger ones, a few of them can't walk.' Alex nodded.

'Start now, try to keep everyone calm, do it quietly we don't want to bring attention to ourselves.' Alex patted him on the shoulder and watched as he went to talk to Sarah and Caria. Garrus was still in deep conversation with Serit. She opened a comms link, 'Joker? Do you read me?'

'Loud and clear Commander.'

'We've found survivors, twenty. Notify the Alliance, have Dr. Chakwas on standby some need medical attention.' She said quietly.

'Sure thing.'

'Oh and Joker? Stay close, I have a feeling you'll be dragging our arses out of this one.'

'As per usual then, this time I want my medal, speeches or no, over and out Commander,' he logged out and the line went dead. Shepard sighed and rubbed her eyes. The ash and dust was irritating her skin. Garrus clapped the Turian on the shoulder and laughed loudly. The atmosphere in the room had lightened at least. Sarah and Caria were doing a phenomenal job of wrapping up the children and young ones. Wayne went between everyone helping where needed. Garrus finished talking to Serit and walked over to Alex.

'So?' she asked.

'Tough lad. When he first heard the reapers he ran to the school were his sister was, grabbed the teacher and class dragged them into the basement and told them to dig, ran back up into the hell hole the school had become and found Sarah and Caria with some more children, told them to come down, and so on. There were about thirty of them at first but as they went out to find food, water, supplies the reapers picked them off. Now their all that's left.'

'Damn. Poor kid.' She sighed.

'His sister is still alive, so he considers it a win.' Garrus shrugged. 'Now we're here we've brought hope they didn't know existed.'

'They're all kids Garrus, I can't take them into an open war zone, but I can't leave them here.' Garrus took her hand and in the dark they had found themselves in gently pressed his forehead against hers.

'You will do everything that's possible Alex, I know.' It wasn't some washy sentiment, he had told her what she needed to hear, the truth. She ran her hand down his mandible and nodded. Squeezing his hand she opened a comms link to the other teams.

'See what weapons and armour they have, they'll need protection.' Garrus nodded and let her hand go, he called Wayne and Serit over and began to ask them. 'Tali? Liara? What's going on?' She heard a lot of static but their replies came through.

'Not a lot Commander, EDI and Theros are examining some salvage, it's emitting strange signals but we don't know if its Prothean.'

Liara spoke after Tali, 'same here Shepard, Javik and I can't find anything of the sort, we might have to abandon the idea of there being a beacon, Javik says that the likelihood of a beacon is unlikely.'

'Have you encountered any resistance?'

'A bit,' Tali muttered.

'A few husks, and a marauder, but that's about it.' Liara said something to Vega who replied in a shout. 'Sorry Shepard a few more enemies.'

'Right well start making your way back to here, we're going to be moving the survivors. We'll have to call this one a loss guys.' They agreed and ended the comms link. Alex joined Garrus and Wayne. 'What do you have?'

'Not a lot,' Garrus sighed. Wayne took them into a room which looked like it had fallen from the ceiling, tarpaulin covered most of the walls, a few lockers and cabinets lay strewn around. Alex broke the lock and opened one of them, a few pieces of a chest plate slid out. Garrus followed suit and Wayne gave him the unlock codes for a couple of the lockers. At final glance they had enough for two and a half full suits of armour, between twenty people. Not good.

'Ah shit.'

They heard a knock on the trapdoor, everyone froze, the women hushed the children. Garrus and Shepard loaded their shields and took the safety off their weapons, they moved closer to the trap door.

'Commander it's us!' Vega yelled. 'Open up! We're getting pinned, come on!'

Alex jumped up the ladder and twisted the release lock. The rest of her team tumbled in Liara casting a solid barrier before shutting the hatch, there was very little room in the cellar now.

'What the hell is going on out there?' Alex demanded. Vega's visor was spilt, the rest of them didn't look that good either.

'Remember how I told you that Theros and EDI were salvaging? Well we found a Prothean shard, it started to emit a high pitched noise, which brought all hell down on us. Luckily we were only about five, ten minutes away.' Tali updated Shepard.

'Where is it?'

Theros handed over a stasis container, where a silver shard floated in it's own little time field, 'right Javik? See what you can get from this later on the ship, for now lets find a way to get out of here alive. There's little armour, see what you can distribute among the survivors, Liara I need you to get some biotic barriers up and running. EDI call Joker see if we can get some fire power from up above. We need to move and quickly.'

'Understood Commander,' the robot replied. Her crew made themselves busy. A large shudder shook through the floor. 'Commander the planet is deteriorating faster than we thought we have about half an hour before total-'

'Yeah yeah thanks EDI!' Alex interrupted she pushed a small crying girl than had suctioned herself to her legs to Wayne, 'get everyone ready it's now or never.' She hissed. He nodded his fear clear in his eyes. 'Right everyone with Biotics we are going to create shielding for the survivors, in groups of five we move from building to building ok!' She opened a link to the Normandy, 'Joker pull her in we're on the move.'

'We'll be one kilometre from your position. ETA seven minutes. Over and out.'

Garrus pulled up to her side as she prepared to open the hatch, she paused halfway up the ladder, she was at his height, 'I'm staying beside you.'

'Garrus I need you to cover everyone. Liara and I will be making barriers I need you to make sure that nothing slips past.' She shook her head. She didn't want anything to happen to him, she couldn't bare it.

'That's an order I won't be able to follow Alex, I am not letting you leave my side.' She cursed under her breath.

'Garrus I'm being serious,' she let go of the ladder and dropped to the floor. 'Please just do as I ask. No heroics.' Another earth shattering shudder caused some of the roof to crumble in. The children screamed despite the adults attempts to quieten them. 'We need to leave.' Garrus didn't reply but moved her out the way and opened the hatch himself, there was a brief sound of bullets firing and Alex swore to the sky. 'Liara get everyone ready to go, Vega follow me.' She jumped from rung to rung and opened the hatch, Garrus was crouched by a window taking out targets, she silently slid beside him.

'I swear down Garrus, if these bastards don't kill you I fucking well will.' She spat at him. He laughed and fired a few more shots.

'Can it wait till after we get back on the ship?' He asked. Alex withdrew her assault rifle and checked her clip. Full, she popped out of cover and took down a husk that was too close.

'It'll have to.' Vega threw a grenade over through the window. Alex could see the Normandy entering orbit, they would have to clear the area before she could land. There were far too many of them, they'd never be able to kill them all. Within minutes all the survivors had been brought up. Alex raised a shield. 'A group of five come on!' Wayne and four children stepped forward, she could see that they were the eldest of the youngsters, she approved trying to calm the little ones by showing that it could be done.

She motioned them to step behind her, 'Cover us' she commanded at her squad who all nodded. With speed she ran to the next building, with one hand she held up her barrier with the other she used her pistol to pick off targets that threatened. Wayne picked up one of the boys who refused to run and coaxed the others into following. Gunfire ricocheted off her biotic field, blood splattered up the legs of the children as she forced them to run through dead enemies and civilians. A few seconds later they were in the safety of the next building, she herded them into an alcove and called for Liara's team to come over. Little incident happened, they were halfway there.

'Liara stay here, protect them, I'll be back with the other group of five, Tali, Vega and Javik, just hold on till then.' Liara nodded and refilled her pistol.

Alex waited for a break in fire and then ran over to the original house. A rocket hit the ground beneath her feet and sent her tumbling sideways. She smashed her head against a fallen piece of masonry. Everything went dark.

**Please review. I see that they have dropped. I hope that you liked. xx**


	35. Chapter 35

'Alex!' Garrus shouted running out of his cover, he was a few feet away when the floor began to shake violently. So much so that the buildings around them began to collapse. Garrus lost his footing and crashed on to the floor, Liara and Tali began shouting at him to get back, he looked up and saw that one of the side of the buildings was falling. He watched in horror feeling bullets ricochet off his shields as the wall fell a few metres in front of him effectively crushing Shepard. He sat gaping until Vega broke cover and attempted to drag him back. Garrus struggled roaring at the broken masonry but allowed himself in the end to be led back behind the wall. He was visibly shaking and wouldn't look away from the spot of where she fell. Tali looked over at Liara who unashamedly had tears streaking down her cheeks, Wayne tried to calm the children who had begun to scream and howl at the sight they had just witnessed.

'Hello? Hello? Liara the Commander won't pick up, you gotta get over here, this planet is crumbling beneath your arses,' Joker patched himself through to her comm. Liara shook herself and forced herself to realise the situation they were in, she wiped her eyes and opened the channel, she also linked her comm to everyone else's.

'We'll be bringing survivors over, I repeat we will be moving out,' she said in a monotone voice staring at Garrus, the anger on his face was blatantly obvious. Theros had only sighed when he saw the building collapse and buried his head in his hands. Wiping the tears that hung on her face she nodded at Wayne motioning him to pick the children back up.

'Liara you can't be serious,' Garrus said in a raised voice down the line. He opened a channel to Shepard's helmet but all he got was static, he thumped the ground almost breaking his hand, twitching he fought the instinct that screamed at him to find her.

'I am, our first priority is the shard, then the survivors, then the Commander,' she said her voice breaking, personally she thought the Commander was the most important thing, but she knew that Shepard wouldn't see it that way and she was determined to do what Alex would. 'We'll come back for her, she's fine,' she said trying to convince herself.

'You know as well as I do Liara, that if we leave now there won't be enough time to come back.' He said with a dangerous resonance in his voice, Liara glanced over at Vega and Tali, they didn't look happy about it either but they all saw the concrete come down. The chance of Alex being alive was slim at least. Tali nodded and made the motion to move out, Vega mimicked her, they all agreed to move. All of them apart from Garrus and Theros of course. Liara looked over the wall and saw that the Reaper forces where thinning out, most of them had been crushed or shot down, it was now or never.

'On three we move okay?' She shouted.

'I'm not leaving her!' Garrus shouted.

'I'm not giving you a choice!' Liara screamed back, she was almost sobbing, 'Goddess! Garrus this is hard enough! But we are running out of time, we have to move now if any of us are going to survive!'

He simply scowled and reloaded his rifle and began to fire back at the Reapers clearing a path.

… … … …

Alex groaned opening her eyes, her vision swam. Shaking her head she took a mental assessment, there was a numb pain around her ankle, there wasn't much light and the air was filled with ash and dust, she breathed in heavily regretting the decision instantly. Her helmet had been ripped off and she could feel blood dripping down the collar of her armour, he used her omni-tool as a make do torch and spotted it a few feet away, she tried to move only to almost scream in pain. The reason her ankle was numb was because her foot was crushed by some stone that had fallen, _where the fuck am I? It looks like some sort of cellar. Wait.. the missile, must __have brought down the damn wall! Which caused the floor to collapse, _adrenaline flowed freely through her veins, _little fucker could have killed me! _She thought viciously. She shakily activated the medi-gel dispenser in her suit and felt the warm, pressuring feeling as it swamped and took almost all the pain in her foot. Sighing and coughing she tugged her leg out from underneath the rock, with the aid of biotics she managed to lever enough room to slide out. 'Oh fuck me,' she said to herself. 'Right I need to get out of here, like now,' scrambling over to her helmet she ripped the comm, after doing a quick field check she twiddled a few bits and the static cleared. Looping it over her ear and linking it to her omni-tool she shakily got to her feet and limped toward a set of stairs in the far corner. It felt like an earthquake was ripping it's way through the planet's surface as she climbed, several times she slipped halting her progress. 'I need to get up high, there's no way I'll make it to the landing site, but maybe if I can get to the roof I won't need to,' she planned. It was a slim chance.

'Please Garrus don't leave without me, don't you dare fucking give up.'

She wrenched open the door with her shoulder only to be greeted by a couple of husks lurking in the gloom. She yelled and threw up her hand releasing a biotic wave which disintegrated them both. Her head throbbed as her implant protested. She cursed loudly and ran into a side room looking for more stairs.

… … … … … …

Garrus pulled the last child into the Normandy, swearing as he did so. Liara brushed past him knowing that he hated her at the moment, she didn't look at him. Tali brushed his shoulder as she clambered in. The planet was visibly shaking and breaking apart around them. Garrus began to grind his teeth in frustration. He wasn't leaving without her. No matter what anyone said. Theros walked over to him removing his helmet.

'I'm going to find her.' He stated. He had made it clear that he wasn't happy with Liara's decision. 'I'll let you know if I find anything.' Scowling Garrus turned to look at him, as much as he hated to admit it Ris'ono was a valuable commodity to the mission being briefed in Prothean technology. Besides, if anyone was going to look for Alex it would be himself. Turning away slightly he struck before Theros had a chance to replace his helmet. Lightening fast his blow knocked him out cold, Tali gasped and ran over.

'Keelah! What was that for!' She checked his pulse. The fact that Garrus had wanted to do that for a long time helped ease his barely existing guilt, securing his own helmet he leapt out of the rising Normandy. Luckily she was only about ten foot off the ground. 'Garrus! Tali screamed. 'What are you doing?' She cried hanging out the landing dock.

Garrus rolled as he landed, breaking into a run. 'I lost her once! I'm not losing her again!' He replied down his microphone, cutting the link. There were still a few husks lingering among the flying dust and ash, he didn't even waste any bullets on them, simply charged through ignoring their attempts to grab at him. Dirt clogged his visor as he ran toward where he last saw her. Jumping over a rough barricade he breathed heavily. Fear began to flood his veins as the floor underneath him began to tear apart, the wind became heavier and ripped around him throwing his balance from side to side as the thermals rose. In his anger and panic he began to cry out as he moved, 'Alex!' He cried anguish in his voice, 'Alex where are you!?' He reached the area where she was last seen and began to scrabble in the rubble, unable to lift anything he howled. Blind panic had set in and he began to climb up the growing rubble. Reaching the peak of the the concrete mountain he looked around frantically, he could see no body, no evidence that she was ever there, there was on the other hand a large hole which lead into an underground room, it was possible that she could have fallen. Taking the chance Garrus jumped down from ledge to ledge until he reached the cellar. Still no sign of her. The planet shuddered as it tore itself apart, the remaining buildings were collapsing he had to move and quickly. He ran to a set of stairs, before he reached the foot, something caught his eye, it was Alex's helmet. He scooped it up as he passed. A quick examination showed that she had ripped her comm link from the socket. Holding her helmet tightly he began to program his omni-tool as he ran up the stairs and through the building. She would only have a range of about forty metres, if he could patch a signal he could find her. Stumbling he broke the remaining glass in a window and pulled his body through onto the street outside. A violent rupture split the ground beneath him causing a flush of scalding hot air to shoot out beside him. His omni-tool bleeped as he rolled away from the gap, it had located a signal. Hastily he tried to create a patch. Static crackled.

'-he f-uk... -ello is the-... -Hello? is- …. anyon...'

It was Shepard. She was alive. And moving by the sounds of it.

'Alex! Alex! Can you hear me?' Clicking a few buttons he tried to clear the static.

'-arrus?'

'Where are you!?' He had to get up high. Setting his sights on a fallen building he began to run, a few more of the Reapers forces tried to hinder him but he shot them quickly and efficiently. 'Alex! Where are you?!'

… … … …

'Damn it come on! Someone pick up!' Alex swore at her headset. She didn't have long, soon she it wouldn't matter if she got to the Normandy on time, the air currents would be hell to take off in, as well as the gravity increasing as the planet began to implode into itself. Joker was the best but even he couldn't outrun a planet shock-wave. She was climbing up a ladder when a signal clicked in her ear.

'What the fuck? Hello is there someone? Hello? Is anyone reading me?' She was starting to panic. She smashed at the hatch that was blocking her way. 'C'mon, c'mon you piece of shit, get out of my fucking way!' She screamed at it. Thumping it harder and harder she reluctantly used her biotics and braced herself for the onslaught of pain raking it's way through her skull, which it did. She cried out falling from the ladder, the floor shuddered and moved beneath her. She had blown the hatch open but it also felt like she had put a round through her head.

'-Lex! Alex! … you -ear...?' She shook the spots from her eyes and linked her arm back through a rung in the ladder.

'Garrus?' She replied. _Oh my god it's him. He came for me. _Tears flooded her eyes, she was determined to get off this planet. Determined to grab him and swear to never let him go. She shakily pulled herself up the ladder and onto the roof. The rising wind swept her hair around her face whipping it into her eyes. She could see the Normandy rising to a safer height. She just had to hope that Joker could come back. Scanning the Horizon she looked desperately for Garrus.

'Alex! Where are you!?' Garrus shouted down his comm.

The signal was clearer, tears streamed down her cheeks, the dust sticking to the moisture. 'I'm... I'm on a roof, I don't know where, about a mile from the Normandy's landing zone.' She prayed to whomever was watching over her.

'I'm climbing as we speak Alex, wait for me.' He reassured the relief evident in his voice.

'You came for me,' she sobbed. Her worst fears were almost coming true, she was afraid of getting spaced again, terrified of it. 'You fucking idiot, you should have left.'

'Never.' He grunted. 'Right I'm on a roof with a few satellite uplinks, can you see it?' Wobbling she looked around. She could barely see a few feet in front of her the wind was getting more and more turbulent. Then she saw the tell tale glow of his visor.

'I found you..' she whispered.

'Got ya..' he said to himself.

**Well there's a thing. Hope you all liked sorry about the shitty update times; there's so much to do! Also apologise for any mistakes I have made it's like one in the morning. Please drop a review if you liked. xx**


	36. Chapter 36

Alex giggled down her comm link, 'I gotta say Vakarian, I've never seen you look so good.' She was high on adrenaline and fear. Her building was taller than his and she could only see his silhouette. Dust and ash severely impaired any sight that she had. She wiped her cheeks smudging the dirt around.

'Back at you Alex,' he chuckled.

'Right Vakarian how do we do this?' She asked.

'Is there any way for you to get over here? We haven't got much time the Normandy was rising when I jumped ship!' He had to shout down his comm simply to hear himself. There was a slim chance that they would even be able to get off the planet, the Normandy would have trouble coming a few miles into the atmosphere now; she would just get dragged down. Garrus looked around searching for anything, anything at all that would help him. He reckoned that she was about thirty metres away. Too much to jump, he growled in frustration.

'Nothing on my end, apart from a satellite. But that's useless. I hate to say it but I think we're fucked.' She held her hair back from her eyes. The wind buffeted her from side to side, the building had also begun to shake violently. At the rate it was going she was just going to have to jump and hope for the best.

'Can you use your biotics?' Garrus thought out loud. 'A shock-wave to propel yourself or something?'

'Not without passing out in the process,' she replied bitterly. 'But that's not going to matter soon, my building is beginning to collapse.'

Garrus thought quickly. 'Good,' he said. Before she could jump to conclusions about what he had just said; he explained his idea. 'Try and get it to fall toward me, then leap, I'll catch you.' He said quickly. 'Come on Alex, you can do this' he encouraged.

The rooftop beneath her began to shudder, she tried somehow to use her weight to force the building to tilt toward him but to no avail. She swore, there was no way she would get enough speed or momentum in order to make the crossing. The wind roared around her, they were running out of time fast. She glanced over at him wanting to see his face, there was too much wind and debris flying. Like before she could only see his shape. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, she never thought that this would be the end. A crackle in her speakers interrupted her internal monologue.

'Oh yeah I should probably mention that I may have punched Ris'ono,' Garrus said calmly. Just as he thought a stream of obscenities echoed across the gap and down his comm line. He had just heard something that made him sure that they were going to be okay. His main priority now was to keep Alex alive and aware. The oxygen level was dropping as the remainder began to burn in the atmosphere, he had a helmet, she didn't. If she realised that her lungs were beginning to deprive her body would go into shock. There would be no way that she could avoid the panic that would set in. He knew that she was terrified of being spaced. Midnight murmurings had revealed as much, he wouldn't let on that he knew though. Alex didn't like being vulnerable.

'Oh for fucks sake we don't have time for this, listen Garrus, my omni-tool just bleeped, I think that means all reality of being rescued is out the window.' She breathed in deeply, 'Garrus I should have told you a long time ago, I lov-'

'Tell me on the Normandy Alex,' Garrus cut off. A shuttle dropped beside him, Liara waved from the cockpit. He had heard her lock onto his position only a few minutes ago. He leapt into the shuttle. Alex gaped from where she was standing. Suddenly the whole building lurched to the left as a large piece of masonry slammed into the side. 'Spirits!' Garrus cursed, 'Liara! We've got to get her now!' Liara nodded going heavy on the thrusters. She swung the shuttle into position. With the high wind force she couldn't land, she could only hover erratically about five metres above Shepard. 'Alex!' He shouted leaning out of the door, 'you've got to jump!' He held out his hand.

'Just like the Collector ship huh,' Alex joked taking a couple of steps back. The building groaned, she wobbled.

'Remember how I saved your arse back then as well,' Garrus smiled. Alex grinned back. She couldn't see his face due to his helmet, but the dual tones of his voice sent ripples of happiness over her body. She breathed in trying to scavenge whatever oxygen was left and began to run. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her ankle she ran as fast and as hard as she physically could. She had to duck as a piece of sheet metal whirred over her head. Liara struggled with the controls swearing in Asari. Garrus leant out as far as possible reaching for her. The edge of the building came closer and closer until she felt the brim of the side under her boots. She pushed off with all her momentum and jumped.

For a moment she felt completely weightless as she rose through the thick air. Liara managed to dip the shuttle as she jumped closing some of the gap between them. Garrus stretched. Her fingertips brushed his before gravity took hold and began to claim her. Garrus threw himself forward his strong hand clamped around her forearm. She held onto him tightly as he lifted himself and Alex into the shuttle. Liara hit the thrusters as soon as she saw that Garrus had caught her. They rose quickly occasionally having to make a quick manoeuvre to avoid oncoming debris. Garrus slid the door shut. Not for one moment had he relinquished his grip on his mate. Alex's chest shuddered as she drew in large gulps of air. The pain in her ankle came back with a vengeance and she could barely move. Slumped against the seats she ran her spare hand through her hair. Garrus sat next to her, he could now see the large streaks of ash and dirt that covered her face, dust had coloured her hair an pale gold colour which dusted the top of her armour.

'Are you hurt?' He asked.

Alex giggled, 'totally fucked.' She motioned with her hand to her feet and head. Garrus smiled, with the gentlest of movements he lifted her so she sat across him, an easy position to lift her when they had to leave, Alex hissed in pain but let him arrange her. Liara spoke to Garrus through his headset. Alex leant against his chest plate trying to clear the spots that were dancing in front of her eyes.

'We're getting good thrust. The Normandy is attempting a dive, if she gets enough speed she'll be able to pull us in and out with her momentum. It should be enough to break the atmosphere and then it's full speed ahead to get out of the shock wave, we'll catch some with no doubt but all the crew are prepared for that. Hold her close Garrus, it's gonna get bumpy.' Liara cut out. Garrus muttered a thanks to which Liara instantly dismissed as not needed.

Alex having taken a few seconds to process everything sat upright. Reaching up she clicked the release locks on Garrus' helmet. A light hissing noise was the only sound she was concerned about, after what seemed like an age his helmet de-pressurised and he slowly took it off with his spare hand. Alex couldn't help the tears that welled in her eyes when she was able to to see his face. Before she could do anything he reached up behind his fringe and there was a little clicking noise. Alex's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then Garrus' visor dropped. She caught it using her reflexes. Her mind was still a few seconds behind. Without prompting she turned it over in her hands. She could see the engraved names inside the rim. There were one which had been burnt off, _Sidonis, without a doubt, _she thought numbly. But there was another that she didn't know about, it looked the oldest, it hadn't been carved in with a laser it had a more rough look to it, as if it was the first name added. She gasped, it had been worn down, it was at least two years old at a guess, but it looked older. She rubbed it with her gloved finger, it was quite small but she could make out the lettering:

Alex

'When?' She asked unable to say anything else.

'When I found out you had died. I couldn't.. I just.. Well I thought it was about time you knew.' He shrugged. He went to take the visor from her but she held it away from him, he rolled his eyes and let her keep hold of it. Alex looked at it once more before placing it on the seats above them. Then she let her hand trail over his mandible, it was one of the rare times that she had seen him without it. The tears that had been threatening to spill did indeed begin to flow down her cheeks. A rough shake bumped them around but Garrus held her close to his chest as they shook.

Liara clicked into life, 'Normandy's just picked us up. Hold on it's gonna get rough.'

Alex didn't care. At the moment she was the safest that she would ever be. Tilting his head down she touched his forehead to hers. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her. She kissed him lightly. He returned her kisses gently, he couldn't kiss like a normal human but Alex didn't care, just the feel of his mouth on her lips sent tingles down her spine. She moaned feeling alive for the first time in hours. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, he whispered in her ear, his talons stroking her hair.

'I love you,' she whispered her breath catching in her throat. Garrus sighed deeply. Never had he heard words so full of emotion, this was the Alex that only he was allowed to see. And he cherished every moment. He finally had his mate back.

'I love you,' he said back. 'Although now that I've admitted it, I'm desperately trying to think of something witty to cover my awkwardness. The usual.'

'That's my Vakarian,' Alex said sleepily, 'can't have a serious moment,' she sighed. Garrus said nothing but kissed her on the forehead, he could feel her falling asleep. She had been stretched to the limits and it had taken a toll on her body. There would be time for them to talk, he would make time.


	37. Chapter 37

**Oh my goodness, finally feeling a little human. Honestly the cold weather is crippling. It just keeps snowing! Unfortunately because of which my recovery keeps being throwing back. But slowly and surely I'm getting better :P Have you missed me?**

Chapter 37

The shuttle screeched into the hold, raising sparks and causing the few crew members in the vicinity to cringe and hold their head in their hands until it stopped. The door began to close and the bay re-pressurised. Garrus shook Alex awake, the ship was being rocked and forth and he steadied her as they were thrown around. A loud clunking sensation, followed by a worrying hissing noise.

'What was that?' Liara asked returning from the cockpit. Garrus' eyes widened he knew that noise and it wasn't good. He managed to grab hold of one body belts as the artificial gravity released.

'What the fuck?' Alex said groggily as her body was thrown upwards. Garrus halted her ascension by wrapping his arm around her waist. Liara shuddered but managed to use her biotics to create a field in which she hovered gently. Alex held tightly onto Garrus, 'shit! The AG's fucked, we need to get to the CIC now! As long as the oxy unit is alright,' she sighed 'here's fucking hoping.' She unwound Garrus' arm and pushed herself off and opened the shuttle door. The members of crew that were in the bay were holding onto to whatever they could find. 'You all alright?' Shepard shouted, they all replied, one of them even giving her a thumbs up. Conversation was paused for a moment as the Normandy bucked and they all held on until the shuddering stopped.

'Sorry people, this is getting a little rough, EDI is repairing the AG now. Brace yourselves planet shock wave in minus three minutes.' Joker's voice crackled through the speakers.

Alex pushed herself out and she floated through the bay. Garrus and Liara followed. At least she didn't have to worry about the fact she was almost crippled, she pressed the intercom button next to the lift. 'Joker! Report!' Garrus activated his mag boots and was drawn to the nearest surface, as the Normandy was flying on her side he was standing on the wall. Liara was tending to one of the technicians that was trapped in a railing.

'Commander?! We're gonna get buffeted pretty bad, hull integrity is holding but our kinetic shields are under 50%. Worst case scenario? We die. Best case? We live, I've got EDI and Tali reconfiguring our power lines to boost the shielding. About a minute and a half now Commander,' he sighed. He was in bad shape, he was pretty sure that he had several fractures and had broken at least one rib. EDI had given him a powerful pain-killer and it was seeing him through. He would need a couple of weeks off to recover, if they lived through this.

'Okay Joker here's what I want you to do, cut the engines to the minimum, create a booster, as soon as we get hit, use the thrust from the shock wave and the boost and drag our sorry arses out of here. Think you can do it?' Shepard asked, Garrus held her steady by holding her good ankle, he squeezed her leg gently, reassuringly.

'Please Commander, remember who you're talking to,' Joker cracked. Alex smiled, 'oh and Commander, I'm glad you're okay.' He added.

'All thanks to you Jeff,' Alex praised. She heard Joker laughing, Garrus leaned over and spoke into the intercom.

'I owe you a crate,' he said. Joker had already signed off but Garrus knew that he had heard him. They heard the engines turn down, the constant hum quietening. Alex sighed and rubbed her head, she was mentally counting down the seconds. Turbulence caused the hull to groan and tremble. She winced as her precious ship cried in protest at the strong winds and gravity pull. Garrus pulled her close and she floated in his arms as they waited for the inevitable. Alex closed her eyes, tiredness was closing in, she was afraid for her crew but she couldn't help herself, for the second time that day she blacked out. Garrus wrapped his arms around her and checked her pulse when her head dropped as she passed out. He cradled her softly. Liara having freed the trapped man created a larger stasis field; it covered all the crew in the bay and would protect them when the time came.

'Is she okay?' Liara asked brushing a strand of hair out of Shepard's eyes. Garrus' mandibles twitched.

'I think so, she's been through a lot, I'll get Dr. Chakwas to check h-' he was cut off as the shock wave hit the Normandy and Joker released the booster. All of them were thrown into the nearest object to them, Liara swearing in Asari as she landed awkwardly on her arm. Garrus protected Alex from the worst of the impact, he wished he still had his helmet on, it would have softened the blow to his head as it connected with the wall.

The Normandy drifted through space, she had been in worse conditions, but she looked like she had been through several wars. Debris had struck the hull, fortunately most of it had been blocked by the failing kinetic shields. EDI and Tali had repaired the AG unit shortly after the blast. Garrus had carried Shepard up to the medical bay once it was safe. Many of the crew stood to the side as he passed, watching. He could tell that a lot of them were worried for their commander. That had been about an hour a go, he currently sat in the canteen holding his helmet, turning it over in his talons. Dr. Chakwas had sent him out his constant pacing was very distracting she said, she wouldn't take no for an answer either, there was a woman who would tear you apart at the drop of a dime.

Trying to distract himself from the current turn of events he decided to browse the local news from Palaven. As much as it depressed him to see his beloved home world being torn apart he couldn't bear not knowing what was going on. He flicked on his omni-tool and began to read various articles, one particular article caught his eye, a woman, human; she was a survivor of one of the cruisers that was shot down as they tried to evacuate. She had opted to stay on the planet as she had extensive knowledge of Turian physiology, she was a renowned military, medical mind. The article fascinated him, the woman had survived desperate odds, yet she insisted that she stay in an open war zone in order to help others, she reminded him of Alex, defiant until the end. His eyes scanned the page, _hmm it seems her name is Mia Vormillian, now why does that sound familiar? _He clicked on the hyper-link that highlighted her name, he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't place his talon on it.

_More to the point, what in the spirit's name was she doing on Palaven? _He thought waiting for omni-tool to open the link. His question was soon answered, a photograph popped up, snapped in a park, from the sky it looked like Palaven, she was holding a Turian's arm, a smile on her face and flowers in her hair. Garrus knew the look she was showing the Turian, Alex looked at him like that when she thought he wasn't aware. He smiled grimly, it seems that the woman was due to marry a Turian general which is why they had been snapped by the Paparazzi. There wasn't much else about their relationship apart from the outrageous replies about how the mixing of the species was a disgrace to the spirits, the usual thing from people who knew no better. Garrus stared at the photo for a moment, something was kicking him at the back of his mind, it took a few seconds but then he realised what had been bugging him.

It was Theros.

Mia was engaged to Theros.

_Did he know she was still alive? _Garrus thought. _No, probably not, that's why he's been clinging to Alex, they're so similar. _Garrus sighed, he had to tell Ris'ono, even though he hated him. But, maybe he could bring her here instead. It would get her out of the hot zone, she would be safe. Determined Garrus looked up his old contacts and sent a few messages.

_He better be grateful for this. _

**I know it's short, I know it's been a while. I am really sorry, I am getting better, I know I keep saying it but updates will get better. It's just been a little rough this year. Please drop a review if you would be so kind. **


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